Cat Snatching: Or How To Kidnap Someone’s Cat-Son
by blackadlerqueen
Summary: Modern AU, no powers. Raven Roth, normal civillian and usual outstanding citizen, has accidentally stolen someone’s cat while drunk. The cat’s owner is not amused with Raven herself. Shenanigans happen.
1. The Crime

If Raven were to tell the story, she would preface the entire story with the fact that it was NOT her fault.

That was a lie, but Raven was very willing to cover that up if it meant that no one knew what really happened with the cat.

Only a few people knew, of course.

Less than ten, perhaps.

That was not the point.

* * *

So what if it was Raven's fault that she currently had a cat she did not own sitting on her chest, currently prodding her face and meowing with a dignified urgency?

" What." She said flatly as the cat continued meowing, furry face full of concern as it continued prodding her face with a paw, as though checking if the recently sleeping person was actually alive.

The woman groaned, reaching forward so that she could grab the cat currently cutting off her air circulation, and gently place it on the bed, so that the cat could bother her less from the pounding headache she was currently nursing. She then shut her eyes again, grateful to continue her quest of finding temporary rest.

The next minute she bolted straight up, turning back to stare at the black and white fluffy cat currently sitting on her bed, meowing balefully.

" What on earth?" She asked, eyes narrowed.

* * *

" Oh friend Raven!" Her best friend and roommate cooed as she scratched behind the ears of the fluffy black and white cat that was the source of the disruption in Raven's life. "This kitty is the sweetest new companion that you are currently in ownership of!"

The cat purred. Raven rolled her eyes.

It really was not her intention to have someone as exuberant as Kori Anders as her friend, let alone a best one. It was especially hard when they lived together in the same small apartment, where trying to get respite from each other was impossible. However, the bond that they shared was impossible to break, and Raven had tried numerous times in the beginning to do so.

Now, it was a easy, comfortable sort of friendship, where both sides understood each other's boundaries and would do anything for each other. If Raven was asked under pain of death to confess, she would reluctantly admit that Kori Anders was the sweetest woman alive and that she would not have anyone else to have her back like she would in any circumstance.

Right now though, it would help her a hell load if she would stop fussing over their newest acquisition.

" Kori, please stop." She said drily, hoping that her tone of voice would get Kori to stop squealing so shrilly. It was hurting her head so badly. She was lucky it was Sunday, the bookstore could stand to open at a later time than usual.

Kori ignored her, taking the opportunity to tickle the cat under the chin. The cat purred. Kori's eyes shone brighter and Raven could practically see her friend's heart melting under the presence of the fluffy creature.

" Kori, this is serious." She said, hoping her friend understood how serious it was. "I wake up, there's a cat in my room. Let's examine the facts. You never go to my room. The windows were shut, and the door was closed. The cat has a collar. You didn't come home last night as you went to Dick's after you and I were at the bar, so it stands to reason that I must have been the one to bring this cat inside this house. Now think. Why would I have a strange cat in the apartment? "

Kori did not hear a single word that Raven said, as she was too busy trying to tickle the cat on its furry soft stomach.

The cat seemed to like that, strangely enough, it was very affectionate.

"You is such a kitty of goodness!" She crooned. " And you are wearing the edos of tux! Your fluffiness is one of softness! You are a cat of looking smart and fluffy softness! Just like fabric softener when applied to multiple types of fabrics!"

Raven winced. She knew Kori had a love for fluffy animals, but this much gushing over a cat of all things was getting a bit much.

" Kori." Raven said, very firmly now so that she knew her friend could not ignore her. "While I agree that the cat is very cute," The cat mewed, as if in agreement. "It also has a collar, so it clearly belongs to someone."

She was very proud that she was still able to think rationally despite the pounding headache. Drinking the night before had not been a good idea, especially since she was a known lightweight. Due to her lack of exposure to alcohol, two drinks would quickly change her personality from her normal, composed self to a very emotional, very exuberant mess.

She rarely let herself get that way but it had been two weeks after the Malchior incident, and her emotions were getting at her. She needed a release so she let Kori and Dick take her to a bar.

They had separated afterwards outside, Dick having taken Kori home to his apartment in the city. Raven, who had very firmly decided that she was not going to let her ex make her feel like that ever again, decided to take her newfound sense of independence to the next level: namely walking home by herself from the bar 5 blocks away.

She was not hurt, had not run into any muggers, and somehow got a cat. All in all, not the worst experience she'd ever had.

She winced again, and sipped her tea. Kori was obviously of no help to help her figure out the mystery of the cat, so she had to think back to the evening before.

Her phone buzzed, and Raven frowned. She didn't recall taking her phone out with her. She looked around and it finally sank in that she was wearing last night's clothes, and that her phone was in her jacket pocket. She grumbled, and took it out.

50 likes on her Instagram account?

What?

She had never used her Instagram account, so this didn't make sense. Kori had made her make one rather recently as she was rather put out by the fact that she spent so much time with Raven, and yet couldn't tag her in any photos. Raven only acquiesced after Starfire agreed to stop taking her to the "mall of shopping" for a month It was generally understood that while Raven had an account, and let Kori tag her in photos, she never used it, letting it stay on her phone menu for ages gathering virtual dust. She was also unaware that she even had followers on her account, let alone received notifications on the app.

Now though, as she opened the app, she not only had notifications, but 100 followers on her Instagram. Did she even know that many people?

" What is the matter, Friend Raven?" Kori called sweetly from her spot, still cuddling the cat.

Raven, who had no idea what was going on, showed her phone screen to Kori.

Kori's eyes sparkled, " Oh Friend! " she said with glee. " You are using the app gram of instants!"

" Instagram, Kore." Raven muttered.

"Yes, and you posted your first pictorial post!" Kori pointed at Raven's profile, which listed that she had one post. Raven, rather grumpily and now filled with trepidation over the fact that she had, most probably, posted something while drunk, was cursing her brain for letting her emotions run rampant and not rationally.

She sighed and opened the profile to see the picture in question.

Her eyes widened as the post was a blurred picture of Raven herself, holding the mystery cat in question. The text had said, " new life new beginnings new friend."

And someone, she wasn't sure who, had added what seemed to be a hashtag (she was pretty sure Starfire had told her about it once), along with the word cat. This must have been the reason for the number of likes. She was mortified that the people who liked it were apparently strangers, she could not recognise anyone at all.

" Strangers know who I am and that I have a strange cat?" She growled.

Kori, who got up to look over Raven's shoulder to see what was happening, drew a sharp intake of breath. " Oh Raven!" She squealed again. "You must have made friends with the bunkopf that is the fluffy feline!"

" No." Raven said, more at herself than at the situation at hand.

" Oh, look, you have garnered what seems to be the compliments!"

She had. 5 comments commenting on how cute the cat was, and ten commenting on how cute Raven was, and honestly she did not need this display of sleaziness and creepy right now.

She checked the photo folder in her phone.

There were a lot of photos from last night. It seemed that she had taken a lot of selfies with the cat, including one when the cat was inside an apartment, behind the window, and then a few where Raven and the cat were taking selfies outside an open window on someone's fire escape.

It pointed to a few conclusions.

1) Kori's insistence that she exercise with her had evidently paid off well if she had managed to make the jump up a fire escape to get that high.

2) She had, evidently, taken pictures with a cat that was in someone's apartment.

3) She might have just stolen someone's cat.

Raven wanted to scream but felt that the sound would make her headache worse, so she decided to do it internally instead.

* * *

After copious amounts of tea, feeding the cat some canned fish that they found in their cabinet, and Kori's boyfriend Dick arriving with breakfast and a bemused expression upon hearing that his beloved was now bestowing her love on another creature, the three of them sat down to figure out what to do.

" So it's clear that Raven found the cat yesterday-"

" Stole, Dick." Raven said wryly. " I stole someone's cat."

" We'll agree that you found the cat." Dick said, raising an eyebrow. "Now we have options. We can post it on your Instagram-"

" Unacceptable." Raven shot him down. " No way am I using that ever again. Strangers found me and put a heart next to my face. If I wanted a heart next to my face I would have rather it was more realistic and that I was taking a picture of my kill."

Dick tried to laugh until he realised Raven wasn't. So he hastily coughed and tried to move on.

" So, social media is a no go." He said. He looked a little uneasy now. Good, she hoped he stayed that way.

" Why can we not do the redrawing of the staircase?" Asked a still enamoured Kori, now cuddling the cat like a baby.

Raven and Dick turned to look at her, confused. Kori herself looked frustrated, trying to figure out the right words for the situation. " The tracing?" She inquired.

Dick sighed. " Retracing of steps?" He asked his girlfriend gently. Kori nodded.

Dick turned to Raven again. " Couldn't hurt." He said.

* * *

So it was because of this that Raven, Kori and Dick were walking back towards the bar, with Raven now holding the cat with trepidation as they walked across a busy intersection.

" Remind me why we are carrying it?" Raven asked. It wasn't that she disliked cats. On the contrary, she respected their need for space and their independence. However, the cat was heavy, and trying to make sure the cat didn't struggle out of her arms was hard, especially with the traffic and cars whizzing by.

It was also a very bright day, and her hangover really couldn't handle this amount of sunshine. The sunglasses she found before she left the apartment were helping, and so was wearing the hood up on her favourite black chunky knit cardigan.

The cat did seem uncomfortable at first but once Raven readjusted her grip, the cat was relatively content.

" It is possible that someone within these blocks have seen the cat before and they can give us more information on how we can locate the owner." Dick explained, with the authority of an investigative journalist with a focus on crime. Which he was.

"Oh yes!" Kori chimed in, " The smart looking feline would have had admirers from afar!"

" Let's rephrase: why am _I_ carrying it?" Raven said, with an emphasis on the word I, raising her eyebrow behind her sunglasses.

"Because the cat seems to like you the most, Raven," was Dick's simplest answer.

It was true. The black and white cat, while it had loved Kori's shower of affection, had kept going towards Raven and winding itself around her ankles, headbutting her at times trying to get her to pet it. Raven, exasperated, gave in after 5 minutes trying to avoid the cat , and petted it delicately on the head. The result was a very satisfied, very happy looking cat.

She couldn't help it, she had to smile at its face. But still.

"I mean, we could have gotten a carrying case or something." She grumbled to the cat. "You're not exactly light."

The cat's ear twitched.

" You're lucky you're a cat." She muttered, turning the cat around to face her, and lowering her shades to look the cat in the eye.

" Mew."

" Annnnnd im talking to a cat." She said.

The cat headbutted her in the shoulder.

" You're lucky, I've met worse conversationalists," she grumbled.

* * *

After some futile searching, they decided to stop by a bodega that was connected to a mechanic shop to get drinks, and maybe a can of cat food.

The only person available in the store at the moment was Vic Stone, main mechanic and the store owner's grandson. Raven knew him, he often came down to the bookstore asking about the latest graphic novel, and often ended up discussing politics with her.

It helped that Victor Stone was the most levelheaded, smartest man she had ever met. If it were not for his passion for cars, he would have gone into mechanical engineering, robotics, or even pure mathematics.

Right now though, he fixed cars and helped out around the store, and he built cars and engines in his spare time.

Raven cradled the cat in one hand while removing her shades. Victor always kept it dark and cool in the bodega.

The man grinned as he saw the three of them enter the store, " Kori and Raven !" His grin widened," And the mysterious Richard Grayson!" He teased. Raven shifted the cat in one hand to throw back her hood, Kori nodded happily, while Dick rubbed the back of his neck, careful not to disrupt the gel in his hair.

Then Vic's eyes fell to Raven's arms, and his grin dropped, " Isn't that Garfield 2?" He asked in disbelief.

" Garfield 2?" Dick asks.

" Friend Victor, you know of this cat? " Kori asked eagerly.

" You poor bastard." Raven whispers to the cat.

" Yeah, that's my roommate's cat!" Vic laughed. " Hey little buddy!" He tries to reach a finger over to the cat but the cat jerks away, burrowing closer to Raven.

" Yeah, he doesn't like me." Victor smiles ruefully. " Thanks for taking him back, my roomie's been worried sick about him, 'He didn't come home, Vic! He's all lost and alone! What if he's been kitty-napped?' "

Victor laughed. The _kittynapper_ kept a straight face and decided it was best not to tell him what had happened.

" So erm, do you know where I can find... Garfield 2's owner?" Raven said, forcing herself to say the name of the cat with no shortage of distaste.

" Oh that's not his actual name." Victor laughed. " I just call him that. You'll understand why I call him Garfield 2 when you meet his Cat-Daddy. He's just upstairs in the apartment, panicking."

* * *

Garfield Logan, known to his friends as Gar, BB, Grass Stain, Tofu Boy, and once Blue Steel (it was an old, old Halloween thing), was not, in fact panicking. He liked to think he was, at his age, a rational, calm adult.

" 'DEAR GOD!' " he recited out loud as he hastily typed, his keyboard rattling loudly, which showed honestly how rational and calm he was as an adult. " 'Please please please please PLEASE SAVE MY CAT FROM EVIL FORCES! He's only a year old, he can't help but be the adorable cat-son he is to me! I love him with all my dear heart and he's my first and only cat-son! If found please contact Garfield Logan at this number.'"

He finished the poster with his number, added a picture of the cat, and then added another exclamation mark at the end of the word, 'Forces' .

It just made sense.

He printed the poster and was pleased with the results, and was about to take the poster downstairs to the shop office to make copies when suddenly there was a knock on the door.

He fumbled to the door, wondering who it could be, and opened the door to meet the eyes of the most beautiful and scariest woman he had ever seen in his life.

While shorter than him by only an inch, she looked imposing and regal, and had a scowl on her face. Her eyes were rimmed with something soft and dark and it highlighted how beautiful and huge they were.

She was also carrying...

"MC NUGGET!" Gar yelled loudly, grabbing ahold of his beautiful cat Son and holding him in his arms. The cat showed his affection by headbutting his owner in the face.

" I can't tell what was worse, Garfield 2 or MC Nugget." The woman muttered.

Gar didn't mind it, the scary beautiful woman had his kitty cat back. "You found my baby boy! Oh thank you thank you thank you!"

In his overeagerness, and using one arm to hold on to MC Nugget, he threw his own body weight against the woman in an impromptu hug, and planted a kiss on her cheek.

The woman flinched. " Get away from me before I slap you." She said lowly.

Garfield laughed nervously before he moved away from her. " Hey hey, sorry mama." He looked over MC Nugget, making sure he didn't have any injuries or any scrapes. "I'm just... thank you for finding MC Nugget. He's my cat and I don't know what I would do without him."

The woman would only tilt her head and raise an eyebrow. " I get it." She said coolly.

Now Garfield was getting a little teed off . What was with this woman? He reached his hand out, " Garfield Logan." He said civilly.

The woman snorted, "Like the cat?" She said.

Yeah, Garfield was officially annoyed, " Yes I've heard all the jokes." He said shortly.

Was he really acting this short around a beautiful woman like this? Where was his usual charm and charisma? What on earth was up with this woman?

He was interrupted from his thoughts by MC Nugget, who had sprung from his arms to land neatly on the floor in front of the woman, twining his body against her ankles. If it weren't for the fact that he knew the woman was rude and evil, he could have sworn that she had a small smile on her lips.

He snorted. Scary, beautiful women didn't smile. Especially around beautiful cat-sons like MC Nugget.

He watched her bend down and hold out a hand against the cat, who paused, sniffed her hand, and bumped his head against her palm. She scratched his head once more before she stood up again. "Please lock your windows before your cat escapes again. You were lucky this time."

Gar bristled. Who was this woman to chide him like that? But before he could say another word, the woman had turned and left, going down the stairs back where the bodega was. With a huff, he slammed the door shut.

" Who does she think she is?" Gar muttered to MC Nugget as he picked him up. " Lecturing me like that? What is she, my teacher?"

MC Nugget made a sniffing noise.

" Yeah yeah yeah, you like her, we get it," He grumbled as he grabbed his traitorous baby cat son and brought him into the kitchen. "I raised a shameless cat boy who likes scary women."

MC Nugget made a small chirping noise.

" Keep that up and you'll be disowned." He grumbled as he grabbed MC Nugget's water bowl and filled it up with water.


	2. The Stalker Dad

Garfield Logan, age 26, liked to think of himself as a dedicated family man.

It happened sometimes when you were orphaned as a kid. The loss of parents sometimes convinced you that it was important to shower your loved ones with as much care or even more when you become a parent to your child.

Garfield may not have found the perfect wife, or a child to take care of, but he had MC Nugget. He had found him along with his littermates one day during his rounds as a vet at the nearby animal shelter. The shelter was a no-kill shelter, which he thanked his lucky stars for, but they also had no resources to take care of neo-natal kittens. Gar, who had in his youth taken care of a variety of animals, volunteered his fostering services and after months, when the kittens were old enough to get adopted, he realised that he had grown attached to one of the kittens, a black and white runt that no one believed would survive after the first few days.

The kittens were named after fast-food related terms (Cola, Argus, Curly Fry, Sundae, and Nugget), and Gar added MC as it was not only funny but added a little rep to his little cat son's name. No one wanted to just be a Nugget.

With MC Nugget, the home was just a little friendlier and a little less lonely. Moving in with Vic Stone above the bodega made it better. While MC Nugget didn't like the man who smelt like sweat, motor oil and chemicals, he tolerated his presence. Vic let him stay around and only made a stink about him when Gar forgot to clean out the litter box and the literal stink made his eyes water. It was a sweet arrangement.

All in all, Gar was a single father raising his baby son alongside his best friend.

He would call it a Full House moment. Vic would argue it was more like the Golden Girls. The cat was perfectly content to sleep on the couch and agree with neither.

In any case, he was just glad that his baby son was back. Though after the initial relief of getting him back, he had to ask...

" WHYJA YOU LEAVE ME BRO?" He cried, sitting in front of the cat, prepping himself for the heart to heart talk he was dying to give. If someone were to walk in right now, they would comment on how it was a little weird that Gar had placed MC Nugget on the couch and himself on the wooden chair that he stole from the kitchen for this heart to heart talk.

That, someone, was Vic.

" Seriously, little man. I like your cat, but you're taking him a little more seriously than you should be." Vic continued, leaning against the doorway, an eyebrow raised. With his shaved head, raised eyebrow and his size, Gar always felt that Vic would make a great Dwayne Johnson impersonator. "He's just a fluff ball. And he can't talk."

"Vic you don't get it!" Gar whined, reaching over to scoop the cat into his loving arms. MC Nugget let him, cause his son was the best son. "He's never left home before! He's a homebody, a shy boy, the sweetest cat boy I've ever raised! He was going to be the best cat man and I was going to teach him how to be strong and brave and be a good cat father except not a literal cat that's a father cause I don't like the idea of more kittens on the street but he would be the best cat father that would adopt should he choose to be one and I would be the best Pop-pop _but not when my cat son runs away from home like that_! "

He ended the tirade sobbing into his cat's fur coat.

The cat decided he was not comfortable with the bodily fluids touching his fur like that, and twisted his body to get away from Gar, landing neatly on the ground with a sniff.

This made Gar cry even louder.

" He's already disrespecting his Father!" He sobbed. "One day on the streets and he thinks he can make it on his own! I'm not old enough to be an empty-nester! He's only a baby and his mind isn't formed enough to know his own decisions yet!"

"I know someone else whose mind isn't formed enough too," Vic said. "He's short, skinny, and is currently crying over his non-existent son leaving him for the tough streets of LA."

" My furbaby won't be going to LA!" Garfield retorted, twisting his head to glare at his former Best Friend and sometimes landlord.

"So you agree that you're short and skinny?" Vic asked with a grin.

That was true but only relatively speaking. Vic was tall as a six-foot-five black man, and Garfield, in contrast, was five foot nine. He was lean, but he was wiry and strong. However, in comparison to Vic, he might as well be a string bean.

"Hurtful, Cy." Gar warned as he used an old nickname of Vic's, one that referenced their shared past as university roommates. "Hurtful."

"Ain't my fault you have a teensy-weensy body." Vic teased, walking towards the kitchen to wash his hands. "What we eating for dinner tonight? I was thinking maybe Chinese food."

"That's good," Gar said absently, looking towards the direction where MC Nugget was currently cleaning his paw near the bathroom.

"Seriously though, you gotta be careful, man," Vic said, his voice taking on a more serious tone. "Leaving the window open at night to get fresh air is a dangerous way for criminals to get in. "

" I'm sorry, I know!" Garfield cried again. Late last night when he finally came back from the shelter after a very long day at the operation theatre and he didn't see MC Nugget, he had found the window to his room open.

His first conclusion was that someone had kidnapped his beloved cat before Victor came in and suggested that it was also possible that Gar might have left the window open, letting the cat escape. He did enjoy fresh air and often left the window open, only closing it when he was out, and since moving to a new place he had forgotten some habits.

It had filled him with so much guilt that he was planning to go down to the DIY store to get some mesh for most of the windows except for the one in his room that led out to the fire escape. Which he had to leave unmeshed in case of an emergency. He'd have to think about what to do about that.

"Just be careful, little dude." Vic shook his head. "I don't want my grandparents getting their bodega ruined, and all our stuff is pretty valuable. Not to mention that I finally fixed the car, and I want her in tip-top shape." He chuckled. "At least it was a good thing Raven found him huh?"

"Who?" Garfield asked, now standing up to make his way towards the fridge. All that crying had made him feel a little dehydrated, and he needed a soda.

"Raven," Victor repeated. That just drew a blank look. Victor sighed. "She came upstairs, you met her, she told you she found Garfield 2..."

" Not his name." He said absently, rummaging through the packed fridge before his head finally realised who Victor was talking about. "That scary one?" He asked in disbelief.

"Were there any other girls knocking up your door? I wasn't aware of that." Victor smirked.

"Her name is Raven? And she thinks it's okay to laugh at my name?" Garfield asked incredulously, absent-mindedly picking out a can of celery-soda. "What kind of name is Raven anyway? Is she a goth? Were her parents witches?"

" Man, how are you treating women these days?" Victor demanded, walking past him to grab a soda for himself. "Are you so worried about animals that the green vegetables finally melt that shrimpy brain? Did you even introduce yourself? "

" I did!" Gar protested. "I swear I did! I just didn't get her name, she didn't give me one!"

Victor opened his mouth, shut it, and then chuckled. "That's so Raven." He said as he opened the tab of his soda.

"Nice pun," Gar nodded approvingly as he opened his own. "Who is she?"

"Raven Roth? She runs that bookstore I go to sometimes, over on Fifth Street. Has the best graphic novels." Vic took a swig of the drink he had before he continued, "She's really quiet but she's tough, she doesn't let anyone mess around with her." He chuckled, "You know the first time I saw her she was threatening some punk who kept asking her why she didn't stock any copies of Mein Kampf? She could have murdered the guy with her eyes alone, just saying."

"If you like her so much why don't you marry her?" Garfield muttered under his breath. Vic frowned, furrowing his brow.

"Okay, what is wrong with you?" Vic demanded. "First you didn't ask for a woman's name, which is usually a huge sign there's something wrong with you, and then you diss Raven, call her family witches, and try to make her and me get married?"

Gar pouted.

Yes, he was aware he was a full-grown man, thank you very much.

" Well, she was rude yesterday! She made me feel like I wasn't a good papa to MC Nugget!" he grumbled. He sipped his own drink, now feeling resentful.

"You're not a papa, dude. You're his owner." Vic said firmly. "He's a cat."

"On the outside!" Gar yelled. "If it were up to me I would shapeshift into a cat and raise him like my own!"

" ... Ignoring that thought cause that sounds creepy, Raven's really cool." Vic said slowly. "She does tend to run a bit cold but she's someone you want on your side in a fight. "He raised his eyebrow again, smirking. "Also, she's pretty smart, she could probably teach you a few things-"

" Hey, I'm smart!" Garfield whined. "I graduated top of my class in vet school! TOP!"

"Yeah yeah you know stuff like the heartbeat of a horse per minute but you can't name the mayor of our city, I get it." Vic chuckled, walking over to ruffle the shorter man's hair. "In any case, she's really cool, and I think she really liked Garfield 2. "

" That's not his name, and you lie," Garfield muttered, but he had to admit, she was nice to the cat, and that accounted for something.

* * *

At the bookstore, Raven, who was still coping with the shenanigans of the morning, decided to drown things out with copious amounts of the tea she had in the pantry, hoping that it would wake her up.

All it did was make her feel restless in addition to being tired. She was so tempted to sleep face down on the counter.

She sighed. It was 3 pm, and while she had another kid working at the store, she still liked knowing she was sharp and active. She opened up on weekends because she knew more patrons were around then, and they always seemed grateful to her, especially the ones who were shy.

The door to the store opened, and Raven looked up to see Kori come in, entering with two giant paper cups from the nearby coffee shop.

"I believe Dick says this is your favourite of the teas." She said with a smile.

"The man knows me well." Raven drily intoned, taking the cup of tea proffered to her. " If not for the fact that you and he were clearly in love I would have stolen him from you ages ago."

Kori laughed. The both of them knew that Raven's personality was too similar to Richard's to garner any sort of romance between them. In fact, she was the one to introduce Richard to Kori in the first place, because Richard was an old acquaintance from a work thing and when he came down to Jump City, he wanted to stop by and say hi. She and Kori had been living together by then.

The resulting meeting, the clasp of hands, and romantic music that swelled above their heads as they met for the first time was honestly pretty sickening, but ultimately Raven never regretted having ever introduced them to each other.

" It is of no worry that you and he are such good friends," Kori said, leaning against the counter.

Raven took a sip from her cup, enjoying the way the hot liquid felt on her tongue. And it was stronger than anything she had in the cupboard. "Thank you." She said, feeling way more awake than she did in hours. "I absolutely needed that."

The redhead beamed, "You are the most welcome!" She took her own sip of her own beverage, and asked, "And how is the Garfield 2 kitty?"

"It's not Garfield 2 apparently," Raven said, then she told her what happened with the cat's owner. Kori laughed at the end, albeit with a wince.

"Friend Raven, I believe you should not have been so short with the owner that way." She chided. " The man was clearly happy to be reunited with his pet."

"He was over-enthusiastic, and he hugged me, and I don't like people in my personal space, Kori." She replied. "I also don't respect anyone who names a cat MC Nugget. That is not a dignified name to give a cat, and cats are dignified animals."

"Perhaps." Kori said, "But that does not mean you should have been horrible to the man."

"I wasn't horrible." Raven protested, calmly setting her tea down. "I told him to step away from me when he invaded my personal space, I tried to make small talk, and I even gave him friendly advice when I left. I am the epitome of personable."

Well, admittedly, that wasn't true. Raven did understand that not many people understood her mannerisms, and she may have come off as a little rude to the man in question, especially when combined with the fact that she was still nursing a headache and she had been a little thrown off by how personable and thankful the owner was for finding the cat.

It didn't help that the man was rather cute if you were into the whole "wiry dirty blonde with mussed up hair, green eyes and a crooked smile." aesthetic he had been cultivating.

All in all, she really didn't like people threw themselves at her.

Even if they did smell like sunshine and trees.

"Raven, I must disagree, and I know you know as well that you can be very …the best word that fits this is, 'Testy'." Kori said.

"Sure, Kore, insult me with the truth, why don't you?" Raven muttered.

"It stands to the best reason that you were, unintentionally though it might be, 'the rude' " Kori said, gently but firmly.

Raven groaned, letting her head hit the desk. "Fine, I was rude. I'll confess now, Sister Mary Margaret. Tell me how many Hail Marys I'll have to say so I can repent."

"Raven, I am not, as you put it, 'Sister Mary Margaret', and Hail Marys do not seem like the appropriate way to apologize to this man." Kori said, and fuck, it never seemed right to make Kori Anders feel disappointed. Even she, with her demon-like heart, could not resolve herself against the thought that she made Kori feel sad because of her behaviour. It made her feel dirty.

Raven sighed. "Fine. If I ever meet the man again, I will apologize to him. Fully. With bells on."

And there was the Kori Anders Patented Beam of Smiling Happiness. It affected everyone in her presence, even Raven, who resigned to pulling a small grin at her friend's own cheery disposition. It was hard to be so happy when you were surrounded by cheery, happy friends, but it was harder to live with yourself surrounded by friends you clearly hurt by being rude.

"Wonderful! I shall make the Apology Hat that will have the bells!"

"Ah…Kore…."

* * *

Garfield Logan was NOT a stalker.

Nope.

He wasn't.

Absolutely not.

"Dude, are you stalking her?" Vic asked incredulously, peering over his shoulder.

Garfield Logan was not a stalker, and he did not scream like a little girl when manfully surprised by another man that he knew was totally there and he totally knew was behind him.

"Aw man," Vic said in a strangled voice, trying to choke back his laughs. "You scream like a little girl!" The man was almost bent double by how hilarious the situation was.

Belatedly, Garfield tried to hide his phone screen from the taller man, but it was too late, Vic had already seen the words, 'Is there a creepy bookstore with a creepy girl called Raven Roth please help,' on his Google Search, and had snatched the phone away to flick through his past searches. " _Raven Roth Bookstore_ ," He recited, " _Raven Roth girl that might have been the girl from The Ring, Is Raven Roth a Possible Ringwraith, Roth The Goth_ -"

"I wasn't sure what her bookstore's name was!" Garfield tried to say lamely. "I'm like…totally in the mood for a graphic novel and you said she has the best-"

"Sure, sure, little man," Vic said absently, shifting his arm higher so that Garfield had no chance of being able to get his phone back from such a high position. "You could have asked me, but nope, you went ahead with the vaguely insulting Google search prompts. I get ya."

Garfield flushed. Yeah, that was …not uncalled for. Raven, though intimidating, was probably not as creepy as he made her out to be. Google must have thought that he was an ass.

"Look, the store is this- "Vic typed quickly on the screen, pressing enter and letting the search bar pop up with results. "See? 'Nevermore Book Nook' –"

"What kind of name is that?" Gar blurted out. It baffled him. Who on earth would name a bookstore like that? It sounded vaguely death-sounding

"If you ever read a poem or cracked open a literary book in high school, Tofu Boy, you would know that Nevermore is part of a famous poem!" Vic said. That elicited a blank look from the other man, so Vic sighed. "Poe?"

Nothing.

"The Lost Lenore?"

Still nothing.

"Quote the raven…?"

" 'Get away from me or I will slap you'? " Garfield replied slowly, a clear question at the end of the sentence. He knew Raven had said it, it was one of the few times he was genuinely afraid for his life. But it was just a bit weird. Why was Vic asking him quotes from Raven Roth anyway?

"You're impossible, little man." Vic sighed.

* * *

After a more detailed Google search later at home later, (Gar finally understood what Vic was trying to get at with all the lines, but really he should have just said it outright.), Gar found the online site of the Nevermore Book Nook.

It was…interesting, lest it be said.

He had expected it to be gloomy and dark, with cheesy gothic graphics all over, crows all over as a design, and four-eyed shadows in the background, with a selection of witchy books and books on ghosts.

Instead, the website had a clean, orderly design. White and grey, with easy to read print. The online store also boosted a variety of books, though Gar assumed that he probably wouldn't be able to find a John Grisham novel in the place.

He was right though: the store also did host a variety of occult books as well as other eclectic items.

He went to the About page, hoping to see something related to the owner, Raven Roth.

Nothing. The page had a very brief description about the store itself, the opening hours, and how the owner wanted to bring a little, 'literary magic' into the world. Nothing else.

He closed the tab and looked at the other search results.

Raven Roth didn't have much of an internet presence. The only thing that stood out was her Instagram profile.

Someone like her had an account? Eyebrows raised, he went to click on ravennevermore's profile.

The account was, unfortunately, on private.

Undaunted, he opened up his phone and fired up his Instagram app, typed the handle in the Search bar, and, ignoring the locked profile, went to search for photos that ravennevermore was tagged in.

He struck gold there: The woman was tagged in many photos, mostly from an account that had the handle starfireKori. In the photos, Raven was often seen being hugged by a tall, tanned redhead with huge, lovely green eyes. In most of the pictures, Raven didn't smile. In a few photos, she was clearly copying the poses of the other people who were clearly having the time of their lives, her lack of enthusiasm showing. Gar liked to think her eyes were telling the camera or the person looking at the photos that she understood the ludicrousness of the cutesy poses and was doing it merely to be ironic.

There were two posts that evidently stood out: One was a video, taken by starfireKori, where Raven was absently reading, flipping the page of her heavy hardcover book. She looked she was oblivious to the fact that Starfire had added a filter over her face that made her cheeks huge and rosy, along with a pair of bunny ears attached to her head. The caption that came along with it was a simple emoticon of a rabbit.

It made her look sweet and, dare he say it, adorable.

The other, though, was a picture of Raven with a tall, thin blonde man that looked a lot like a cross between David Bowie's Goblin King and Draco Malfoy. It was dated Halloween of last year and was not taken by it, Raven was dressed like a sorceress. The hooded cloak she wore matched the one of the blonde, who was shirtless, showing off his lean figure. Gar snorted. The man looked like a pretentious douchebag, and the look in his eyes when he faced the camera confirmed it.

Raven, however, was smiling. Raven looked like she was happy in the presence of the man.

He wondered why she didn't smile like that for anyone else.

MC Nugget jumped on his lap, making a curious mew-ope sound as he kneaded his paws on Gar's thighs.

" Hey MC," Gar said tiredly. " You wanna see the pretty lady who brought you home today?" He showed the cat the Instagram photos. The cat looked like he was looking at the photos intently before he showed his disinterest by opening his mouth and chewing on the plastic casing of the phone.

" Typical," Gar said fondly. "I show you pictures of pretty women, all you want is food. You're my son, alright."

The cat purred.


	3. The Somewhat Lonely Catnapper

**A/N:** _I did get asked this: MC Nugget is pronounced and read as Emcee Nugget. Like DJ Khaled. But MC._

Raven had, in all honesty, put the matter of the Cat Stealing Incident behind her, and for the next few weeks enjoyed a rather peaceful, shenanigan-free lifestyle.

Until she woke up again with a splitting headache, a very dry mouth and a black and white fluffy tail hitting her in the face.

No.

She sat up to look at the culprit and sure enough, there was the same black and white cat from a few weeks ago lying on her bedspread.

"You again?" She growled out in frustration.

* * *

"While I am excited to see the little bumgorf, Raven, does this mean you have emancipated him from his owner once again?" Kori asked, hugging the fluffy cat in her arms.

"I don't understand it, and I don't want to understand it," Raven grumbled. She raised a glass of water and drank it down, hard. "I'll take him back to the owner after breakfast, and I don't ever want to have to do this again."

Kori smiled, "Wonderful!" she said. "This will give you the opportunity to do the apologies!"

Raven groaned. She didn't want to do that. When she had made that promise to Kori, she wasn't expecting to go forth and actually tell the blonde guy that she had been rude the last time. "Can't I just drop him off at the bodega and let Vic handle it?"

"No, Friend Raven." Kori daintily wiped her mouth with a napkin and stood up. "Now if you will do the excusing of me, I will have to pack. I have a few shoots I need to do for the next few weeks and the cameras as needed will have to be done separately from the rest of my wardrobe."

Raven stood up, ignoring her protesting body, and cleared the breakfast dishes. Kori was a Youtuber, and rather famous, but her job meant that she went on trips all around doing shoots and videos, and she was not just amazing in front of the camera but behind it, capturing stunning landscapes and beautiful photos that she sometimes also sold to nature magazines. It also meant that this time, she would be away for two months or so, which meant that Raven would have the apartment to herself.

It was both amazing and also a little lonely. She didn't begrudge her roommate, Kori loved what she did and never badgered Raven to be in front of the camera beyond Instagram posts but after years of having to fend for herself, it was nice to be able to share that sort of comfort with someone, especially one who tried to push her out of her comfort zone when Raven had been stuck in a rut for too long. Raven liked that about Kori, that she was not a pushover and stuck her ground when needed. She didn't have that many friends, and she was very grateful for the ones she had.

MC Nugget chose to interrupt her brooding with a baleful meow.

"Look I don't know what to feed you with." Raven intoned. "After the last time we really weren't expecting kitty guests-"

The cat yawned.

"And you're already bored. Fantastic. Thank you for attending my TEDtalk." Raven muttered. "Please give me 2 minutes to nurse this hangover, and figure out some sort of food meal thing to feed you with."

She leaned against the back of her chair, thinking.

It had to have been the drinking. The last time, she had two drinks and it had led to the first kidnapping stance. This new one must have been due to the schnapps at the bar her employee Melvin had wheedled her into going the night before, when she needed someone to rant about her family troubles. Raven was close enough to the 21-year-old girl and her brothers than she went to the bar with no reservations, and she drank, though she was pretty sure Melvin had insisted on making sure she got home safe. Taking out her phone, she opened her message app and texted Melvin.

 **What did I do, Melvin? I was pretty sure you took me home last night.**

It didn't take long before Melvin messaged back.

 _I did, but you disappeared at one point._

That was very disturbing.

 **I did what** , Raven typed, dreading the answer.

 _Yeah, lol, you asked me to wait, and then after 10 minutes I got worried, but you arrived with a cat_

She knew she was repeating herself, but she had to ask.

 **I did what now**

 _And then I asked you about the cat and you kept saying you had to keep him, he was your cat friend, and it matched your aesthetic as a creepy cat lady. You wouldn't even let me touch him hahaha_

That…did not sound like something she would do on a normal, day to day basis. Exactly how was she like as a drunk person?

 **What**

 _You then proceeded to take a bunch of selfies with the cat. It was kinda cool. You should drink more often, you're fun when you drink_

Yeah, she was going to be sober from now on.

 **Never again.** she typed back. **Never again.**

* * *

Dressed in her comfiest sweater and a skirt with boots, Raven walked up to the mechanic shop, dreading every step.

Vic, who had stood up from where he looking down at his computer, was about to smile at Raven until he saw what she was holding, yet again.

"He got out?" Vic said, in disbelief. "Honestly, we didn't even catch him leaving, all the doors and windows were closed this time!"

Raven, who was feeling very uncomfortable and guilty, was about to open her mouth and tell him the full, sordid truth when suddenly Vic stopped, his eyes widening and a dark flush showing up on his face.

"Oh shit!" he said slowly. "I left the apartment door open last night to get the trash out, and he probably ran out then!"

Okay, so it shouldn't feel so good to escape from having to tell the truth, but damnit Raven wasn't a saint. "Oh wow," She said, hoping her voice was level enough that she could get away with it.

Victor was panicking now, and it would have seemed a little more hilarious if it were not for the fact that Raven felt guilty about making Victor feel guilty. " It's really nothing-" she began.

"You saved my skin there, Raven!" Victor blurted out, taking the cat off Raven's hands. "Holy shit, thank god Gar didn't see you, and he didn't realise Garfield 2 was missing-"

That was a sort of relief, but not really. "Where is he?" Raven asked, hoping her voice did not betray her emotion on the subject. God, she really didn't want to have to make nice with that man.

"Upstairs." Victor said, tilting upwards, trying to hold on to MC Nugget. "Oh god, I hope he didn't see-"

"CYYYYYYYYYY! MY BABY IS GONE AGAIN!" Thunderous footsteps could be heard from above the shop, and down the staircase, and the faint yell that started from upstairs got louder as the voice made his way down to the bodega and out to the mechanic shop. "MY POOR BA-"

The door slammed open as the source of the scream came barging out the doorway and his voice trailed off as he took in the sight of Victor and Raven, as well as MC Nugget, trying his best to wriggle out of the arms of the taller man. What was funnier was the fact that the man was wearing a shirt that declared himself a MasterBeaster, and a pair of colourful boxers. He had evidently not realised that they had company this early in the morning.

"Oh. Huh," said the smaller man. "He's here. Oh, thank god."

Victor was the first to recover, "Hey BB!" Vic burst out jocularly, his huge boisterous smile not meeting his eyes. "I just saw Raven come in and she wanted to know how the little fluffball was so I…brought him down to say hi!" He looked at her from the side begging her to play along, and to indulge him, she went with it.

"Yeah, I hope you don't mind," Raven said, panicked herself but trying to keep calm so she could seem convincingly stoic. "I like cats, and your cat was very …fluffy."

That didn't sound right, even to her.

The man looked accusatorily at the both of them, and then his shoulders relaxed, holding on to MC Nugget with less clenched hands than before. "Just warn me, dude!" he yelled out in his bluster. "I've just been so paranoid about him leaving!"

Damn, now Raven was feeling REALLY guilty, firstly for stealing the cat and secondly for letting Vic think it was his fault the cat went missing.

"I want to apologize." she blurted out. The two men looked at her. Victor with pleading in his eyes, Gar with a look of curiosity and suspicion.

Her conscience, which funnily enough had the voice of Kori, was tugging hard at her brain, so she sighed. "I came down here because…I was rude the last time I came. I should not have made you feel bad about your life choices and even your choice of name for your cat. Or your own name, because Garfield as a name was not of your own doing."

She stretched her hand out, looking contrite. "Garfield Logan?" she said. "I'm Raven Roth. Nice to meet you."

Stunned silence. The other two men didn't react, merely stared down at her outstretched hand like she was handing them a slug.

Raven was starting to get irritated and very very self-conscious. "If we're all done with this lovely three-way staring contest-" she began, very testily, and started to withdraw her arm.

Garfield was the first to break. "No no, I-"He fumbled, making sure his cat was secure in one hand before be stretched his own out to grasp her own. "Garfield Logan." He said, a smile gracing his face.

He should smile more, a voice in her head said. He looks really good with one.

Raven decided to ignore that voice. That voice, and the emotion that was said with it, was irrelevant.

"Well, there's that then!" Vic said happily, and Raven could sense the relief and joy in his voice. "We're all good friends now, yadayadayada, Gar, put Garfield 2 upstairs, and then come back down wearing actual clothes, what you're wearing could make grandma blush."

Garfield looked down, realised what he was wearing, and screamed. "I'llcomebacki'msosorryRaven!" he yelled back, his words jumbled up as he carried MC Nugget into the bodega and up the stairs back to their apartment.

Victor waited until the sounds of his roommate running up the stairs grew quieter, and his confident composure broke. "Oh god, thank you so much for going along with this," Vic said, "If he ever found out about that I let him out-"

"It's alright." Raven said.

"No, it isn't!" Vic said, eyes wide. "He's been so worried and trying to be responsible for that floofy excuse of a cat that he's meshed up the windows of the entire apartment except for his room window, cause building regs says that we can't do that with the fire escape right outside, so all he can do is close the window when he's out." He fanned himself, as though he was trying to cool off from the extreme fire that he nearly brought down on himself.

"If I had lost Garfield 2, he would have been so heartbroken, and he would never forgive me." He fretted.

Raven didn't know exactly what to say at that point.

He looked back at her with a smile. "I owe you big, Raven," he said, walking towards the door that led to the bodega, "You're getting a soda and maybe free bodega chicken. My treat."

The woman, feeling extremely guilty, was about to open her mouth to tell him the whole truth when Vic looked her in the eye, and said, "Also, you did good. Apologizing. Gar was a little afraid of you after the first time we met, but it was very nice, what you did. "

And there it was, another sign that Raven Roth was a creepy person to everyone else. She sighed. Okay, now she wanted some chicken, if only to distract herself.

* * *

Raven and Victor were sitting around the cashier drinking soda and talking quietly about the bookstore when Gar came back down, this time looking less riled up, wearing proper pants, and a less suggestive t-shirt. His hair looked ruffled, as though Gar had tried to run his fingers through in order to tame it.

"Ooh, sweet, soda!" Gar brightened up, reaching a hand out to grab an ice cold can on the counter, only for his hand to be slapped away by the taller man.

"Hey, no stealing!" Vic snapped. "Raven's a guest here, so she gets a free can. You live upstairs, where we still have soda, so nope."

"But CYYYYYYYY." Gar whined. "It's soda!"

Vic made a noise, slapping his hands away."Nuh-uh! Pay for your own!"

Grumbling, Gar stuck his hands down his pocket and got some cash, which he grudgingly put on the counter top.

"Now can I have a soda?" he growled.

"Be my guest!" Vic smiled, letting the annoyed man take a can.

"Your cat doing okay?" Raven asked, sipping on her soda through a straw.

Gar's head perked up. "Yeah! He's doing amazing! We came back upstairs, and he went straight for the food bowl. He was really hungry, though he hadn't touched his food when I went to check earlier-"

Vic and Raven shared a quick glance before they replied, mingling their answers .

"That's a mystery-"

"Yeah, so strange-"

"Ah well, at least he's upstairs now." Gar sighed, taking a small swig of his soda. "What were you talking about before I came down?"

"Raven here was telling me about the new comics coming in." Vic grinned, and Raven could see he was glad he changed the subject. "I'll be camped out when they get released, watch me there on publication day!"

"Let me know how you feel about them." Raven said. "You're one of the best graphic novel readers I know, and you've got discerning taste-"

"You flatter me, woman." Vic raised his soda can. "Just for that, I'm giving you extra sauce for your bodega chicken!"

Gar whipped his head around, "Wait, what?" he demanded. "How come she gets bodega chicken?"

"Cause she's cool, B. Also, you're on a diet, so you won't appreciate it." Vic smirked. "I'll make some-"

He got off his chair and made his way to the backroom, where the chiller was, leaving Gar and Raven alone.

"I'm sorry about me getting bodega chicken?" Raven asked drily. Should she apologise for that? The bodega chicken that Vic's grandparents sold in the store was amazing, and Kori often came down to buy some to take away for dinner. She often bought more than the two of them could eat in one meal, so leftovers were often paired with it. Raven didn't mind. She liked the bodega chicken alongside cold pasta.

Gar burst out laughing. "Don't be, I'm vegan," he explained," I just like to whine when Vic gives free food away, especially to women. " He looked at her, smirking, "If anyone's giving free food away to the ladies, it has to be me!" He punctuated the last bit of the sentence with a thumbs up and gesturing at himself.

Raven rolled her eyes. " You must be a hit at parties." She snarked. She had him pegged, alright. Worried, overdramatic cat-lover who liked to think he was a Casanova and a hit with women, but was also into cheesy jokes. Clearly, someone who thought highly of himself.

He was also apparently vegan and was entirely sincere to people who did something he respected. That seemed…rather sweet. But people contained multitudes.

"Hey, hey!" Garfield said, looking affronted. " I'm amazing at parties! I come it, I devastate the ladies with my great looks, the men with my hilarious jokes, and animals love me cause I'm just so peppy!"

She raised an eyebrow. " Really." She said flatly. " Try me then."

Gar smirked, "You asked for one!" He said. " I'm gonna hit you with my best pick up lines. Cause you deserve to have the best!"

" Mhm." Raven took another sip of her coke, "I'll believe it when I see it."

The man smirked, and Raven assumed he was revving himself up for the challenge. He raised him arm and, dramatically, pointed at her face. " Well, Raven!" He began. "You're pretty."

That threw Raven off for a few seconds. Did this guy call her pretty? Luckily, years of practice had given Raven the best poker face, and all she did was raise an eyebrow.

"And I'm cute. So I think…if we started dating, we'll be Pretty Cute!" Gar finished, looking as though he had just offered her a rose from the Bachelor.

Raven paused, " Was that your best joke?"

" Um."

" Cause it really wasn't that good."

" Erm."

" A kindergartener could do better."

" Wait wait!" Garfield protested. " I have another!" He looked like he was racking his brain before his eyes lit up and he said, just as dramatically as before. "I can't spell the word Beautiful without U!"

Raven waited for a few minutes before she realised that he had already said the punchline. The number of seconds that ticked by while she stared at him was making him nervous, if the twitch in his face was, in any way, accurate.

She raised the other eyebrow. " Uh…huh." She said sceptically. " Do girls actually date you when you say those lines?"

She knew she hit a nerve when Garfield gasped. "I'll have you know they did!" he protested, puffing his chest out in pride. The woman rolled her eyes.

"Here's the thing…I can't spell the word Ugly without U in it either." Raven said, going back to her drink.

There was a short, sharp laugh from the backroom, and the both of them turned to look in the direction of the doorway, where Vic was standing, holding back his laughter.

" GURL, YOU CAN STAY!" Vic yelled across the bodega. Raven couldn't help it, she had to smirk. Gar, still in shock, had to keep his balance by leaning against the counter.

" Thank you, Vic." Raven said. " Can I pay you for my next soda?"

" What are you talking about!" Vic yelled back. " You shut down Gar! You are getting free sodas for LIFE!"

Gar was still speechless when she finished her first drink and went to the fridge for another. When she sat down again, Gar looked at her in the eye, and went, " It's on!"

Raven looked at him, unimpressed. " What is?" she asked drolly. " The lights? The air-conditioning? Your brain?" She hoped it was all three.

Gar didn't seem deterred by Raven's snark. In fact, he smirked. " Me outsmarting you and making you laugh!"

Raven opened the tab of the new can of soda. "That a challenge, huh?" Raven asked. " It's going to be really hard for you. I've been in close contact with your face and you still didn't make me laugh."

There was another burst of laughter from the backroom where Vic was still prepping the chicken.

Gar looked a bit upset and for a few moments, Raven thought that she might have gone a little too far. Then, " Oh it's definitely on!" Gar declared. " Raven Roth, I am going to make you laugh one day!"

" I believe you will be sorely disappointed." Raven replied.

* * *

The fun time had to end when Raven looked down at her phone and realised that she had to go back home, she had to open the bookstore in an hour.

"Well, it was very lovely to hang out with you two, " Raven intoned. " But I have to leave. Duty calls."

" Well, just in time, little lady." Vic said, coming out of the kitchen and passing Raven a container that held a full bodega roast chicken. " It was good of you to come and join us. Next time, you should come over for dinner, bring Kori with you! I'll make you something nice!"

" I'll let her know., Raven said,a small smile gracing her lips.

" And next time, I will defeat you, and your stoicism, Rae-rae!" Gar yelled, where he was happily chewing on a straw. " You will love me and my jokes, mama!"

" Yeah, never going to happen." Raven said after a pause. " Also, it's Raven." She added. Best not to give anyone ideas on what to call her beyond her given name. she thought.

Gar only laughed, " I can do it, mama!" he said, posturing in such a way that she could only describe as "silly". "You will fall for one of my romantic lines, Raven Roth!"

Raven looked at him, at the way his eyes brimmed with determination, his dirty-blonde hair glinting off the sunshine coming in from the windows, and the way his mouth curved into an exuberant grin. He really did think he could do it. Raven thought. He was that confident that he, a man Raven had only just met for the second time in her life, could make her smile.

Well, then. She would have to prove him wrong, of course. While she did like him for his goofiness, avoiding him would be best. If she actually stole MC Nugget again, they would inevitably catch on that she was the one who was responsible.

Then who on earth could she talk to?

"I'll fall the moment you make a joke so bad someone cries and their tears make the floor slippery, maybe." She said. Vic gruffawed at the newest line.

She walked off, feeling a little proud of herself as she did. She could hear the cheers of Vic as he taunted Gar and the protests of the other man trying to fend himself from the teasing as she walked down the road. The warmth of the freshly cooked chicken felt good in the cold, nippy air.

She reached him, and was met by a Kori who was in a rush, she still had her camera to pack as she raced all around the apartment, gathering things. Raven helped her pack quickly, called her an Uber to get to the airport, and Kori kissed her on the cheek as thanks before she raced out the door in a panic.

Now, all that was left was Raven, a box of chicken, an empty apartment and the beginnings of silence.

Unbidden, her thoughts went back to the bodega, where Vic and Gar were, teasing and making fun of each other.

They did seem like a fun bunch. Vic was as funny as he was well-spoken, and spending time with him made her like him even more. Garfield, while a bit more annoying, and very over-confident, was rather sweet, in a very round-about way that was belied by his cocky attitude.

But no. She had had enough. She was not going to drink ever again, and she'd only keep her visits to the bodega only when she needed things.

No more cat-stealing.

Nope.

Nada.


	4. The Unfortunately Maligned Dickhead

_A/N: I don't pretend to know anything about veterinary school, or shelter practices. I tried research but I decided ultimately the best thing to do was to be vaguely truthful._

" Should I ... ask if you're alright? " Dick said, as he surveyed the room, looking confused. The last time he had been in the apartment, he didn't recall seeing this much of a change happening.

No answer, as the other person in the room was furiously writing down something hurried on a makeshift whiteboard while pinning something else with her other hand. She had the marker pen cap in the mouth, and she growled a little as she wrote something wrong, rubbing out what she wrote with the butt of her part, and the pen cap crackled as it groaned under the weight of her teeth.

Dick sighed, feeling guilty.

It was possible he may have been ignorant about what was happening with regards to Raven. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but when he was in the apartment he only had eyes for his girlfriend, the sparkly, fiery queen of his heart. While he did pay attention to the roommate that was also his friend, how could you concentrate when your girlfriend orbited around your universe and also happily smelt like strawberries and wine?

It was inevitable that he would miss something.

However, that was not the answer to what was going on right now. He knew Raven could be as obsessed as he was when faced with a problem but he really wasn't expecting ... whatever this was.

" Raven, " he began. "Be real with me." He gestured around the whole room, which was covered with papers, red string that connected itself to photos and then somehow spread itself to every surface of the room, lists with pictures of drinks on them that had rankings all over the photos, and pictures of their friends. " Are you... okay?"

Raven's face turned towards him, and the flustered look she had on her face reminded Dick a hell load of the popular meme where a man was explaining his conspiracy theory to his friends. As it was, Raven looked exactly like the meme in question, except way grumpier.

"Mmmbinnnne." She said before she spat the pen cap out with so much aggression, the cap zipped its way towards the kitchen and landed in the sink. She growled, and repeated herself, " I'm fine" in a clipped tone before she started going back to writing something.

Everything she was doing felt ominous and threatening.

Which reminded him.

" Could you consider... turning down the creepy monk chanting ?" He asked, feeling a little more creeped out. And people said that he was way too intense when he had a lead in a headline for the newspaper. They had clearly never met Raven Roth. She apparently concentrated best with monks and Latin choirs spelling out people's doom. Or something. He really wasn't proficient in the dead languages.

She nodded and pointed vaguely towards the living room, where her phone was. He switched it on, opened up Spotify, which was playing the "Good concentration music fantastic for work" playlist, and paused it.

He pointed to the words, " DRINKING?!" that was written at the centre of the board. "Do you think you're an alcoholic?"

"It may seem so-" Raven growled out. "It happened again, Richard."

"What?" He said, a little taken aback. Then a light switched itself on as he remembered the cat pictures. "You stole another cat?" He asked incredulously.

" Nope." She replied. The relief Dick felt was, however, short-lived as Raven continued, grimly. "I stole the same cat. Again."

Dick took a step towards the couch, hesitating when he found it filled with papers and books. Raven sighed and went to join him, clearing a space by removing books and placing them on the floor, gathering the loose sheaves of paper in her hands and putting them safely on the coffee table.

Once settled, she told him everything, from the drunken sojourn the night before the incident, the return of the cat, and the resolution to stop drinking.

" This ... does not explain the whole CSI thing you've got going on, Raven." He said slowly. "You're kinda going conspiracy theory right here."

" It only looks that way because you don't know where it starts and where it needs," Raven said archly.

"Also, did you eat?" He asked. A hungry person was not a functional person and judging by how twitchy Raven looked, she probably had very low blood sugar.

"Tea." She said, waving a hand at the dining table, piled high with mugs. Dick didn't even know the apartment had that many mugs.

" What about food?" He asked gently.

Raven opened her mouth and then realised she could not actually remember the last time she sat down to have a meal.

Dick sighed again.

"Come on," he said, leading her to her room. "Go get yourself dressed and wash up. I'm buying you lunch."

* * *

After a shower, getting dressed, and taken to a café, Raven felt better, and, in Dick's words, 'less conspiracy-theorist'.

"Believe me, I've been there," Dick said, munching on a croissant. "Remember?"

"We were all there," Raven muttered as she sawed at a steak. At one point a few years ago, Dick, who liked to stick his nose into other people's business, found a lead in Japan, and followed Kori when she had a trip to Osaka, claiming to be on holiday and relaxing, but instead spending all his time chasing criminals and infiltrating certain segments of the Japanese underworld. Of course, that led Kori and Dick to have one of their biggest arguments, with Kori charging that Dick never liked to let things go, while Dick countered back with the fact that Kori was too light, too lenient, and too frivolous. It was a very tense vacation for most of it, and Raven was, unfortunately, caught in between most of it.

Dick laughed, guilt creeping into his chuckles as it faded. "Did we ever apologize to you for ruining your vacation as well?" he asked sheepishly.

"Mm. I told you, I had fun." She said as she took a bite out of her steak.

She wasn't lying. The two of them arguing meant that she was allowed to figure out her own vacation plans, including visiting shrines to pay respects, learning more about spiritualism in Japan, and hitting Harajuku without being forced to buy anything too cutesy, just happily soaking in the atmosphere. She was free to do what she wanted, eat what she wanted, and buy a few gothic-esque clothes.

Also, she got to hit the onsen whenever she wanted.

It was a great vacation.

" I'm just glad you guys made up."Raven continued. "And Kori didn't spend time crying on my shoulder any more. I had to buy more clothes cause she soaked all my good clothes with her tears."

Dick smirked. "You're a liar. "He challenged. "Kore told me that you were nice to her, was there when she needed to chat, and then you hugged her and stroked her hair when she needed company-"

"And if you ever repeat that to anyone, I'd deny everything," Raven said, deadpan.

Dick laughed, an open, clean sound. "In any case," he leaned forward, "You're a good person, Raven. Which is why it's weird you're on this hermit compulsive writing thing. "He tented his fingers, "Explain to me what's happening."

Raven sighed and put down her knife and fork. Might as well explain everything to someone rational, calm and willing to understand leads. "So, you know how I've been stealing the same cat?"

Dick nodded.

"Well, it stood to reason that the only thing connecting both incidents was the fact that I was ingesting alcohol," Raven said. "Alcohol at the same bar both times."

Dick nodded again.

"It also stood to reason that one of the reasons why I hit the same place twice was due to the fact that the house in question is situated between our apartment and the bar." Raven continued.

Dick nodded again. All seemed logical. Raven would have been amazing as a philosopher.

"So."Raven continued. "Originally I wanted to cut out alcohol forever. However I also wanted to see if I was missing anything else, so I've decided to attack this in a 3-pronged approach."

"3-pronged, huh?"Dick chuckled. "Seems serious."

" The first-"Raven started, removing a notepad that seemed to contain extensive notes. "Deducing and narrowing the type of alcohol that affects me the most."

"Logical, "Dick said. "Though it would make sense if you just cut out alcohol altogether, right?"

Raven nodded, "True, however, there will be situations…" she hesitated. "People around our age will be drinking, and I refuse to believe I am an alcoholic. Besides, I want to find out what kind of person I am when I drink." She sighed. "And I need trustworthy friends who would do so without any sort of blackmail…"

Well, that explained the picture board with pictures of himself and other friends. "The second?" he asked.

" Geographical locations. "Raven said, as she flipped the page. "The results might vary from place to place, and I want to know if it's just the one place that's the source of my …situation." She clasped her hands, looking thoughtful. "I need to go to another bar to figure out if I would do the same thing…again."

Dick raised an eyebrow. "Raven, is this an excuse to go bar hopping?" he asked.

The look he received from the woman in question was a terrible, terrible one, and he was not wont to go repeating the experience again. "R-right, okay, okay, my mistake." He laughed, hesitantly.

Raven calmed down immediately, and Dick wiped his brow. To change the subject, he asked, "What's prong 3?"

Raven sighed, resigned. "I think the reason why I keep stealing cats is because I want a cat. So…I've been doing research."

Dick frowned. "You…want a cat? "he asked.

"I've talked to Kori. "she replied. "She's been very receptive to the suggestion of us getting a pet, and I've been doing research on the cats in the various shelters that might need a home. It might be good to have some company when Kori's away."

"What, I'm not good company?" Dick said, jokingly.

"Please, we both know you only hang out with me when Kori asks you to, especially in the most recent years." Raven said flatly.

Dick winced. "That's …"

"We don't hang out, Dick. When you visit, you're mostly spending your time with Kori. I'm mostly there because I'm there. " She couldn't help but let a tinge of bitterness enter her voice. "Search your feelings." Raven said. "You'll know it to be true."

Dick sighed, but he grudgingly agreed. Raven was perceptive, just like he was. "You may have a point."

There was an awkward pause before Raven's eyes softened and she broke the silence, "Look, you're not a horrible friend, just really busy, and very …driven."

Dick rolled his eyes. "You're being too kind to me, I get it." He stretched both arms above his head. "Okay, how about this. You start on your …3-pronged approach situation, and I'll be there, to observe the experiment. "

That was honestly more than what Raven had actually expected. "I don't-"

"Look, you were right." Dick interrupted. "We've known each other for way longer than Kori and I, but it always seems like you and are near strangers in comparison. Partly, it's due to my rather…dogged nature. And also…you tend to push people away so you don't get too close."

"You and Kori, always using the truth against me." She muttered, but she smirked.

"So how about this?" Dick asked, with a smirk of his own. "You and I work on this…experiment of yours, and we'll spend more time in the process, be better friends again. We'll eat lunch, we'll drink, and I'll help do your bidding, make sure you don't get too out of control, or steal another cat again. Also," Here his smirk widened, "I've been known to be very secretive, and very stubborn to get down to the truth, just like you. Between the both of us, we'll be able to get this sorted out."

The only sign that Raven was touched by Dick's words was in her eyes, which were shiny with tears. She had coughed, rolled her eyes to get rid of the pesky tears, and replied, with all the dryness she could muster. "That sounds workable."

Dick grinned. "So…where should we start?"

* * *

When Dr. Garfield Logan was on the job, he was focused, he was professional. He treated pets with equal fervor, he fistbumped with small children and pet owners, he sometimes flirted back with women who were grateful for the youthful vet that saved their own, and he discussed animal clinic matters with volunteers and staff members that respected his views.

Sure, he was goofier than the normal veterinarian worker in the animal clinic that adjoined the shelter. He made bad jokes, like the time the animal shelter organized a trip for the city kids to a farm that had llamas and alpacas. He'd looked down at the schedule, and then asked, "Will vegan food be provided? Cause if not, alpaca lunch."

After the 100th pun, he was subjected to the consequences that was the Pun Jar. He then joked that the pun jar was an appropriate pun-ishment for his sins. He was then made to put two dollars into the jar. He then asked if he was even allowed to put his two cents into the matter at hand.

Garfield was out 10 dollars by the end of that day.

In any case, he was a working professional, and he exuded confidence, decisiveness, and charm…

All of that was immediately dropped when a dark-haired woman and her companion stepped into the lobby of the animal shelter, where Garfield was surrendering another dollar to the Pun Jar at the request of the no-nonsense receptionist.

"Raven?" the man blurted out as he did a double-take. "What are…what?"

Sue him, he really wasn't expecting the woman to appear at his workplace. Raven was a blip in his personal life, not his work life, and right now it was like he was watching a crossover episode. Or a ship crushing a small rowboat. Something really.

Raven, to her credit, only raised an eyebrow. "Garfield." She addressed him in a matter of fact way. "So, this is your workplace."

"How did you know?!" Garfield near-yelled in a panic. Holy shit, she was totally a psychic or a ringwraith if what Lord of the Rings showed was right, she could totally sniff him out, holy holy shit-

"You're wearing a labcoat." Raven pointed out, and she accentuated that point by pointing at Garfield, who was wearing a labcoat that had his name sewn on the pocket as well as a nametag that denoted him as Dr Garfield Logan, along with his picture.

Oh.

The dark-haired man behind her was shaking with silent laughter at Raven's deadpan deduction. He had a head full of gel, wore a pair of sunglasses, and was wearing a pretentious trenchcoat. To Garfield, he looked like a pretentious fucker who fucked around pretentiously.

Maybe he needed to remember more SAT words…

"My friend and I," Raven said, and he had to drag himself from obsessively thinking about Raven's pretentious looking friend, "want to know more about the adoption procedures here. I've been told this was a no-kill shelter…"

"Yeah, this is the place. "Garfield said, well-aware once again that he was interrupting her, but decided that it didn't matter, as he beamed from ear to ear. "This is where the magic happens!" He was aware he was speaking rather loudly, but that was okay.

"…right. "Raven said slowly as though the man had not interrupted her. "So I've done some research and I'm considering adopting an older cat, and I want to come down to fill out the forms and maybe have a look at the facilities they have here-"

The receptionist was about to open her mouth and give a form to the woman when Garfield cut her off. "I can take you!" Garfield said, feeling a little giddy. He wasn't expecting to see the woman again, and this unexpected meeting meant that he had yet another opportunity to make the woman smile for him. Fuck the weird fucker that she was apparently in the company of. That didn't matter.

Bonus if he was able to find an animal a forever home.

"You want the grand tour, lady, you can have it!" With a flourish of his hands, he opened the doors of the shelter's internal space that was open to tourists.

"Gertrude, these people are with me, can I keep them with me for the tour? Pleaseeeeeeeeee?" He widened his eyes, pouted his lips, and when the stern-faced receptionist did not budge, started making whimpering noises. He was rather proud of that, his whimpering noises were known to be very realistic.

"Fine, Dr Logan." the receptionist relented. Garfield grinned, and he took his guests for the shelter tour only Dr Garfield Logan would ever be able to do.

* * *

"…and that concludes the tour!" Garfield chirped, turning around to meet his tour group. "Whaddya think?"

Raven was quiet, but Garfield had expected that. In fact, it didn't matter that she didn't say a word, he knew she was paying attention from the keen look she had in her eyes and the lingering glance she had at the cats when they walked past the cat area.

The problem, though, was her companion Dick.

He had asked questions throughout the tour, ranging from the benign such as how long he had been working in the shelter, what kind of animals the shelter housed and how it was funded, to more personal questions such as the number of years Garfield had taken to get his degree, what his animal care specialty was, how much experience he'd had being a medical professional to animals, and when he had moved to Jump City.

Garfield had politely answered every question, albeit a little guardedly once he started to the more personal questions. It was like the other man was interrogating him, and he really didn't care for the other man's tone.

"I think we've seen enough."Raven intoned. Garfield and Dick turned to look at the woman in question. "Garfield, your workplace is really nice." Raven said, and Garfield was relieved to see that her eyes had softened from earlier. "And I think if we need any veterinary services, this place would work just fine."

That made Garfield grin from ear to ear. Raven liked his work place? He took a look at the man next to her, who had a more inscrutable look, and he couldn't help but smirk. Raven made that decision without any input from the dickhead! Sucks to be him!

"Sw…sweet!" he went. "Look, if you're really interested in adopting a cat here-"

Raven nodded. "I think I've narrowed my options down." She said, taking out her notebook. "I saw some cats on the shelter website that I'm interested in, but I have a few more questions and if possible, can I meet them? You've met the cats here, so you'd know them... can I get your input on the cats and their personality? You've obviously treated them before."

It was unintentional, but she was looking at him from beneath her lashes while she was still holding on to her notes, and damn, that was kinda cute. "Sure!" He smiled. It was possible he was smiling a bit more goofily than he normally would, but that was probably alternative facts. "Though I only treat them, I don't actually spend time with all the cats-"

"You work here." she said. "You'll know. Your cat seems well taken care of, and I'll trust your judgement."

That was…honestly the nicest thing anyone had ever said about him. "Just for that, I'm telling Victor you're getting a free drink from the bodega whenever you want!"he laughed. Then he realised something.

"Oh, damnit, if you want to adopt a cat here, you gotta fill up the form… that Gertrude wanted to give you at the front desk…" He laughed hesitantly at his silliness, and turned around, "Stay here! "he called back, "I'll be right back!"

It didn't take him long for him to get the forms, Gertrude had helpfully stretched her hand out to pass them to him as he went by.

"THANKYOUGERTIEILOVEYOUFOREVERBYE." He yelled as he walked back briskly towards where the two were. He could hear strains of their conversation as he did, and with their backs towards him, they obviously didn't realise he was behind them.

"What do you think of this one? "Raven asked, as she passed something to Dickhead Mcpretentiousdick. It was probably a phone.

"Mm…Raven, why would I have any input?" the man said. "It's your cat you're picking out."

"Yes, but you stay in the apartment sometimes, you'll get a say in us getting a cat that likes you," Raven said drily.

It suddenly made sense to Garfield.

Dickhead was Raven's boyfriend/partner/husband/significant other!

Well, then.

At that moment, Garfield knew 2 things:

1) He was not someone that had affairs with people in relationships. Flirting with Raven, therefore, was not a good idea.

2) He'd try his best to be friendly towards Raven as well as Dick. Because if he thought the woman was remarkable, any way to keep her in his life in one way or another would be great. Even if he had to be nice to the gel head.

He walked over, making his steps louder and more careless so the couple would know he was here.

"I've checked it." Garfield grinned. "The forms are all here, you just gotta fill them out, and then you'll be subjected to a home visit and interview, and then you'll be able to get the cat you want to adopt."

Raven took the forms, a slight frown on her face. "Thank you, this all seems a bit…overwhelming," she admitted.

"Well, you'll do okay." Garfield didn't stop grinning. "You seem to have done some research and I'll answer any questions if needed. In fact-"He reached into his pocket, took out a pen and wrote down a series of digits. "If you need anything, just text me here! Any cat-related question, I'll answer it. If not, you know where I live-"

Holy shit, what happened to NOT FLIRTING with Raven Roth? He'd made the promise to himself a FEW SECONDS AGO, and he was breaking it already? The man in the trenchcoat was already raising an eyebrow at him questioningly. Ah fuck, he's mad at me for trying to steal his girl-

"Thank you, Garfield," Raven said, interrupting his thoughts. "Your help is …not unappreciated." The smallest of smiles was playing on her lips.

Hell, he'd take it. "No problem, Raven, no problem at all."

* * *

"So," Dick said as they left the shelter, Raven with a bunch of pamphlets in hand. "Was that guy flirting with you?"

"You know him, "Raven said. "He's the owner of the cat I stole. "

Dick's eyes widened. "The one you said was trying to tell you all the dating puns?"

Raven nodded.

Dick laughed. "He seems… nice." He teased, lowering his sunglasses to give Raven a knowing look.

The woman glared at him. "Don't push it."


	5. The Void Stares Back, and It Likes Boxes

Raven took the carrier that was currently set up in the private corner of the living room, peering at the creature currently residing in the case.

In the darkness of the cage, two eyes stared back, bewildered and fierce all at once.

There was a famous saying once, to avoid staring too hard into the Void, for fear it would look back on you and Raven was reminded of it as she opened the cage door. She knew it would possibly have consequences, but there were a few websites that had recommended this next step and Garfield Logan himself had supported that advice. Since he was an actual veterinarian, he would be correct, right?

She quietly opened the door to the case, and then, without looking to see how the cat would react, left the cat alone, choosing to go into the kitchen to prep the food bowl and water dish.

In the kitchen, she could look over and pretend not to see a small black nose poking it's way out of the carrier, sniffing.

She had to allow herself a smile at that point.

Azar was kind of cute.

* * *

Garfield looked over to see his phone buzzing, with a now familiar name appearing on the screen. He chuckled, and slid a finger across the screen to accept the call.

"So did what I suggest work?" he said, allowing himself a small smirk. It was llunchtime and he was right in the middle of a soy Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwich, but he could always take some time for questions.

An audible sigh, and then, "Yes, the upside-down cardboard box with two exit holes was surprisingly effective," came the calm, reluctantly respectful voice of Raven Roth. "Azar's currently hiding in it and she really spends a lot of time in there. You've more or less saved me money for buying a cat bed."

"I did tell you!" Garfield crowed. "She likes it better when she has a hidey-hole to stay in, and this way she won't hide under the couch cushions or behind shelves all the time. You put her blanket in?"

He could almost hear the eye-roll she must have been giving him, "Yes."

"Excellent. " He said, very reminiscent of Mr Burns from The Simpsons. "The plan is coming together."

"Clearly. "Raven said. "So, appointment in…"

"10 more days." Garfield said. Don't sound too eager, Gar. She's someone's girl. Tread carefully here. "She's got her shots already, and she shouldn't have any trouble with the litter box…"

"She doesn't."

"Good, if you have any more problems, let me know-"

"Thank you." Said the calm voice. "I'll see you when I see you then."

Garfield grinned.

* * *

"So, when are we going to execute the plan?" Dick said, sitting at the counter of Raven's bookstore, eating a burger.

"After this week," Raven said, as she studied the computer. "I want her to feel settled in first, I don't want her nervous about you when you get into the apartment."

Dick nodded.

Operation Dionysius ("Raven, must this have a name that we cannot pronounce?" "I want this to seem like a dignified situation, do not question me, Richard.") was currently being planned to the T, thanks to Raven's thorough research and Dick's obsession with the details. In fact, Dick had spent his lunchtime the past few days at Raven's bookstore, bringing his food in while discussing the latest plans. Raven hadn't realised he was adamant about keeping his promise to help Raven out and renew their friendship, but the man was taking the plan seriously.

The man was even using one of his many red notebooks, the ones he used to write down leads in, despite the fact that he had a perfectly good working phone that could help him take notes.

"I keep the pdfs of the notes scanned and uploaded into a cloud I have online, with top-most security." He explained. "Phones are distracting, they keep uploading notifications from messages-"

"How is Kori, anyway?" Raven asked without looking at him, taking a sip of her tea. She knew what he meant when he said, "Distracting."

"She's doing good," Dick said, a hint of a blush on his face. Raven didn't need to look at him to confirm, the man was easy to read. "I'm actually thinking about popping the question."

That was a pleasant surprise. "Finally," Raven drawled, setting her cup down, the tiniest of smirks gracing her lips. "What took you so long?"

Dick looked embarrassed. "I was thinking about it since… Japan, actually. But well, I kept planning for the right time- "

"You're an idiot, Richard Grayson." Raven chided. "There is never such a thing as the right time. You could have done it ages ago."

Richard flushed, rubbing the back of his head. "I didn't realise you wanted Kori off your hands that badly." He countered.

"Kori is my best friend, and I wouldn't trade her for the world, but you should have proposed 3 years ago," Raven replied. "You two are a good couple."

And she'd meant it. Despite the fact that she grew up in a broken home and thus always had a cynical view towards the idea of a happy, healthy family, Kori and Dick were two of the most hopeful people she knew, and they were both strong, determined, and worked well together.

Dick smiled, and though he did not say anything else, Raven knew he was grateful for his encouragement.

"What about…" and here Dick went silent, but Raven knew what he was about to say.

"I threw his things out in a box yesterday," Raven said grimly. "I didn't need them anymore."

She was telling the truth, though it was partially true. She had collected some of Malchior's belongings, found a fire-proof box, then set the entire thing on fire. The rest of them she gave away to the local Thrift Store.

Dick reached over to pat her on the shoulder. "He really didn't deserve you."

"And I don't want to ever see his face again," Raven said. "He's moved to another town, so he won't be popping by at the store anymore."

The fact of the matter was, she had met Malcolm "Malchior" Jones at the bookstore when he had first moved, and he was charming. He came over frequently because he was in search for a very rare grimoire that he wanted for his collection, but he and she started chatting about other books, both of them bonding over their love for high-fantasy and poetry. Raven had been infatuated with the man for a whole year, despite the red flags that Kori and Melvin had pointed out, like how he was really into making disparaging comments about women and made Raven feel horrible about herself.

Ultimately, she broke up with him for a number of reasons: she had found out that the man was also "discussing his love" with another woman. Both of them had suspicions that Malchior was cheating, and ultimately when they confronted each other, they found out that the man had been stringing them along at the same time. With help from the other woman's friend, they also found out that the man had been responsible for making creepy, rather perverted comments to other women in the Goth/Occult scene around the area. So, they turned the tables by exposing him.

"I'm glad you're getting better, and I'm glad you actually did expose him by stripping him naked, confronting him, and them locking him out of the apartment," Dick said casually. "How did you manage to get him outside?"

"I sent the word around to the neighbourhood association," Raven said, just as casual. "I explained the situation, and they were happy to help, so they refused to open their doors when he knocked. And we had his phone, so he couldn't call for an Uber to pick him up. "

Dick nodded. "And Kori got the photos, right?"

"And video." Raven sipped her tea. "The views for that vlog skyrocketed."

It had been exhilarating, at first, and the women had congratulated themselves for a job well-done. But then after a while, Raven's doubts and brain kicked in, and she was plagued with guilt over having not seen the signs and blaming herself for being so gullible and in love with a man she barely knew. She hated herself for doing it, but she had cried. It was so absolutely silly, and after what had happened with her parents she had sworn never to be like her mom in that aspect. But that night, full of doubt and self-pity, she sobbed.

Kori had come into her room at one point, and with Raven on her lap, she had stroked her hair, talked to her and even sang a few songs from her homeland until Raven had drifted off to sleep.

It had felt nice.

"Your girlfriend has wonderful fingers, by the way." She added absently.

"I'm not going to ask how you know that," Dick replied after a pause. "Think she'd like Azar?"

"I sent her a video of Azar sleeping the other day, "she said, taking out her phone. "Judging by this-"she held out her phone to show Kori's message, which had a series of exclamation marks, emojis, and gifs. "She already loves her."

"And you?" Dick said. "Do you love her?"

"More than life itself," Raven said, deadpan.

That was true. Azar was proving to be a very effective roommate and the sweetest cat Raven had ever met. Forget MC Nugget, Azar was a sleek black cloud of quiet elegance that was disguised as a cat. She had been very shy around Raven at first, but luckily, due to Raven understanding the need for space, and letting Azar explore the apartment on her own, she was getting used to Raven as well as her new home. When Raven fed her that morning the black cat had practically nuzzled up her ankles and the woman could feel the purrs vibrating from the cat. It was the nicest feeling she'd ever felt.

"I'm glad she's settling in well," Dick said. "Any chance you'd bring her down to the bookstore?"

"Maybe." Raven said, "If she's doing okay and if Kori's not in the apartment… I'll check with Garfield…"

"Oh yeah, the vet we met that gave us the tour!" Dick said, eyes brightening. The bastard. "Have you talked to him yet?"

She rolled her eyes. "He's a shameless flirt. When I got to the shelter to pick Azar up two days ago, he was there, and he asked me if I was quiet when I was looking at Azar cause, 'the cat got my tongue.' Then he proceeded to try 5 pick up lines in a row, and only stopped when the receptionist told him to surrender $60 to their pun jar. He then started crying about how unfair it was to make a junior doctor give up so much money, the receptionist told him to get an I.O.U. and Azar and I got away unscathed."

Dick stared and then started laughing.

"What?" Raven demanded.

"That's the most you've ever said about any guy!" he chortled. "You must like him!"

Raven rolled her eyes. She was surrounded by idiots who really didn't know better.

She wondered if she had time to run upstairs to check on Azar. At least she'd listen and not judge.

* * *

"So what happened after you gave up $60?" Vic asked over the dinner table later that night. "Should I worry about you not being able to pay rent?"

Garfield rolled his eyes. "Dude, I'm good for it, you know that."

He wasn't wrong. Technically Garfield could buy a house by himself and live comfortably on his salary, along with his inheritance that he had barely touched when his parents died that only kicked in when he was 18. However, he liked Victor's place, and his grandparents were kind to him when he was rooming with Victor in college, always inviting him over for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Gar had a very tense relationship with his own foster parents, and the invites were a godsend to him.

When Gar mentioned that he was starting work at the animal clinic and had trouble looking for a place to live with a good roommate, Victor offered the spare bedroom in the apartment. Gar jumped at the chance. It was a 15-minute bus ride to the shelter, and he got to stay with his best friend.

"Then Raven got her cat, thanked me for helping, and went home," Garfield said, matter of factly. "I gave her a few tips on how to make the home better for her cat, passed her some supplies and a bag full of food, she seemed pretty cool about it."

"Man," Victor said, laughing. "I can't believe you hated Raven one day and you're now helping her get a new cat in another-"

"She's still weird though!" Garfield cut him off.

"Weird enough that you'd still tried 5 flirty lines on her?" Victor raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you say she was with her boyfriend or something the other day? Little man, you're bold but you have to be careful about that."

"I know, I know," Garfield grumbled.

He had more or less confirmed that Dickprat Prattishslap was Raven's significant other when he had, during his lunch break a few days ago, accidentally on purpose found Nevermore Book Nook, walked in, and spied the two of them in the back corner of the store, talking quietly. He didn't want to spy on them, they were having a hushed conversation that seemed intimate and secretive, so he promptly walked back out again.

NOT that he was spying on her. No.

"Anyway, I didn't know she had a boyfriend, "Victor continued. "Though, if he was that guy I saw that one time a month and a half ago…"He shuddered. "That man is bad news -"

Garfield's ears perked up. "Really?" he said, as casually as he could.

"Yeah, " Victor said, picking out a chunk of meat from his takeaway box. "I didn't like him. Looked like a dick."

"That's probably him!" Garfield nodded resolutely. "The man gave me the same vibes, man. Dickshit Slapfuck."

"Dang, she's with him, huh?" Victor said, shaking his head. "Raven is lovely, but I hope she knows she's worth more than that…" He then looked at Garfield with suspicion. "You're not planning anything…shitty, are you?"

That was an affront on so many levels, and Garfield felt like he was being accused of sordid affairs, murdering innocent babies, and eating veal, all at the same time. "No!" He gasped. "I'm a gentleman, as you very well know!"

Victor rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah man, but well…"

"I'll have you know I have never done anything that would be seen as shitty towards my fellow dudes, especially if they treat their women right, even if they are douchebuckets!" Garfield said. "I am amazing!"

"Yeah yeah yeah, you're actually a good dude." Victor chuckled, reaching over to ruffle his roommate's hair. "I'm just saying, be careful. Though I think Raven can take care of herself-"

"Sides, she and I are now in a business thing!" Garfield went on. "She's gonna be my patient's owner, and I'm gonna be her cat doctor! Nothing will ever go on there!"

"Uhhuh."

"And sides to the sides, we've only seen each other 4 times in total!" Garfield ranted.

Though that was a total lie. Garfield had, besides that one time he saw Pratfacé McVonDich having lunch with Raven, went down to the bookstore the day before, mostly to satiate his curiosity over the woman in question, as well as to check out the graphic novels that Victor had been raving about.

When he'd walked into the store, the woman he was NOT spying on had been manning the counter, but she was then occupied with a rather boorish customer, so he did manage to walk in unnoticed and hide in the corner looking at the graphic novels. All the while, he'd spent some time looking around the corners of the shelf so he could watch the situation unobserved.

The man, who had red greasy hair tied up in a man bun, bushy eyebrows and bad acne was yelling at her, and all she did was stare him down with a look of disdain.

"You can't possibly tell me that an establishment such as this does not carry The Liberty of Binds!" He had screeched, waving a phone with his gloved hand. Garfield had looked at him properly and realised that the man was wearing robes from Space Trek: The Wrath of Tan and was both repulsed and excited at the fact that there was a fellow fan in the area. "We are talking about one of the biggest movie franchises in the history of time and space!"

"And, as I've already mentioned, this shop does not carry mainstream Sci-Fi that you can readily get anywhere else." Raven then replied drily. "We carry indie fantasy and sci-fi titles, poetry, graphic novels that are not focused on superheroes-"

"And thus, fair proprietor of the store, you are now on the Blacklist of Doom!" The man had flourished a pudgy finger at her, his tone indicating that Raven should feel more afraid of his words. All that earned him was a raised eyebrow and what looked like a vein throbbing on her forehead.

"If you continue to ask for titles you can clearly get anywhere else, and then yell at me about it, you have the energy to open your laptop and go to your local Barnes and Noble." Raven had snapped. "Do not come back here anymore, Thaddeus-"

"I would prefer you refer me by my edgelord name on League of Legends, Control Freak!"

"Goodbye, Thaddeus. "Raven had replied after a beat. "Please never come back here again."

As the bigger man shuffled his way out, grumbling, a voice could be heard from the back of the store. "Is he gone yet?"

"Yes." The dark-haired woman then sighed, pinching the skin near the bridge of her brows. "Melvin, take over the counter, I'm going back upstairs to meditate, eat lunch, and feed Azar-"

"Omigod, can I visit your cat please please please-"

"After a week, Melvin. The vet recommended it, and I intend to follow that."

So he had felt a little gratified that someone was following his advice. Sue him. He'd never heard someone say out loud that they trusted his judgement before.

So he had bought 5 graphic novels from Nevermore Book Nook, even though he was attended to by the cheery, blue-eyed blonde in pigtails and overalls. Sue him, he liked supporting local businesses.

So he was actually spying on the woman he most definitely did not have a thing for.

It wasn't his fault! She happened to be funnier than expected, and he wanted to show that he could match up to those cray-cray skills of wit! And she had a soft spot for cats! And she took his advice and took him seriously! It was only a matter of friends being friends, and a matter of him wanting to show off how cool he was!

That was what he would write on his deathbed confession.

Sue him, no one else would know.

* * *

Raven trudged up the stairs back to the apartment and opened the door.

She was greeted by a pair of bright coloured eyes that stared at her from the couch.

She sighed, went to sit next to the cat, and offered her palm to sniff as a way of greeting. The cat did the requisite going over and then nuzzled the hand.

"You're surprisingly cuter than I expected at the shelter." She'd told the cat.

The cat didn't reply, choosing to climb on her lap.

Raven took the opportunity to start her meditation pose, drained by work and anxiety over the plan that would be executed soon. Dick had wanted to start the plan right away, but Raven was feeling drained beyond belief and all she wanted was to read, meditate, and play with her new cat.

The cat was intuitive enough to stay still when Raven sat there, breathing slowly through the ritual. That was another great thing about Azar. She somehow understood the importance of silence and peace. When Raven started chanting her meditation words, Azar barely blinked, choosing instead to take a nap.

Raven opened her eyes 30 minutes later to see a sleeping cat on her legs, and she'd stopped moving, not sure what to do. She was pretty sure she needed to eat, and feed the cat currently slumbering, but at the point in time, she was content just sitting there. She took a hand and started stroking the cat's sleek black fur, careful not to wake her up.

Azar started purring.

Raven leaned back, figuring she could do with a good 15 more minutes of peace.

The chaos would start soon anyway, and any respite was good for her soul.

 _ **A/N** : **This originally had a scene where Dick got mauled by kittens when he was playing with them, and more BBRae interactions.**_

 _ **It'll happen next chapter, sorry about that**_


	6. The Disassociation of The States

It was a dark and stormy night.

Technically.

"Dick Grayson, you are NOT starting off your notes as though you're writing a sordid crime novel!" Raven hissed next to him as the both of them were on their way to the destination in a cab.

"I like a good, memorable opening-" Dick tried to defend himself.

" It's dark because it's night-time. Also, it's barely drizzling!" She gestured out the window where sure enough, a small shower of rain was falling down, but not strong enough to be considered,'stormy' .

" I'm taking artistic license!" Dick said. "I'm allowed to do so!"

"I asked you because you wanted to help, Dick, and what I need from your is your keen, intellectual mind, your accurate note taking and sound logic." Raven replies tersely. She was already feeling very nervous about what they were about to do, and all the meditation in the world, tea, and even petting Azar did not help one bit. "I do not need your artistic whimsical side to come out-"

Dick only laughed. She was pretty sure she was close enough to reach over and wring his neck. Screw the fact that he was a friend of hers and her best friend's boyfriend, she could dispose of the evidence very easily. She'd even conduct prayers over his grave site so he would have a peaceful death. Anything to get rid of that smirk.

"You'll be fine." Dick said. "We've gone through all the possibilities. And it's all about recon right? We're gonna ease you in, start off slow..."

"Why start at this bar again?" Raven asked grumpily as the cab rolled up to the front door. She had her hood up, ready to make a break for it when she ran out of the car into the dry interior of the bar. Dick was lucky, his trench coat was resistant to water, as was his gelled-up hair, while Raven's favourite comfortable slouchy wool sweater was going to get a little bit wet. On the plus side, her black shirt meant that if she was going to spill anything tonight or get caught in the rain, it wouldn't show. Same with if blood got on her shirt.

Not that she was expecting blood to get splashed on it.

Strangling your friend definitely didn't cause any external blood loss.

"Geographically it makes sense," said Dick. He had picked her up from a cab that he'd took from the city, as his car was in the shop that day. The cab fare would be a bit pricey but Dick barely blinked, he was a trust fund kid that just happened to have a job as a crime reporter in the newspaper.

"We start further away from the original bar, so that we can figure out how much you can walk, and the route you will take. It's only going to be two to three drinks, so you'll still be able to walk but enough that you might not be able to remember. You've been to this area before, which was a requirement because you needed areas that you can walk to and fro from your place, so that you'd know the route. If you deviated from the route to go anywhere else, we'd know. Lastly, I know the owner. She's nice, and owes me a favour, so she'll let us have a private corner all night with no one to disturb us."

Raven sighed. She had known all of this of course, Dick was very thorough in his investigation plan, and had gone through all of this during the lunch time meetings they had. She was just nervous and annoyed that they even had to do something like this in the first place.

Dick ruffled her hair in a gesture she knew it meant he understood. She slapped his hand away half-heartedly and opened the door to the cab as he went to pay.

She walked up to the shelter under the bar, letting the slight rain fall on her while waiting for Dick to reach. Her nerves were getting to her but she rationalised her feelings. As it was it made sense that it was a conventional thing, going out to bars with friends. She was 28 for crying out loud. It wasn't as though she was an old fogey, who preferred to stay at home and drink tea and read.

That was a lie, she did feel older than her years. And she really wanted to stay home. And she really wanted some tea. And she really wanted to read that new novel that came into the store.

She wanted to do so many things, but here she was, in front of the bar, about to test some theory that now seemed half-assed and unthinkable.

She took a deep breath as Dick joined her at the door, and pushed the door open.

* * *

Garfield Logan had absolutely no idea what was going to happen.

Sure, he was currently in a fancy-ish bar that was a bit out of his usual range. He tried his best usually to abstain from alcohol, only drinking socially, but the shelter people were celebrating Gertrude's 65th birthday and he had to admit, he was very excited.

Workplace birthdays were usually pretty boring, and technically they did already have a song and cake in the shelter, but the other workers sent him a text telling him that he was invited to the after party and to tell no one else. He may have gotten a bit more excited when he reached the place and found out it was pretty exclusive. Not all the people who worked in the shelter were there, only a select few, and they thought he was worthy enough to be invited.

This was a huge achievement considering the fact that he'd only been at the shelter for 6 months. But it was really nice that they welcomed him as though he had been there for ages.

He didn't even think Gertrude even liked him that much.

"On the contrary, Dr Logan." Gertrude had said wryly while at the table, a jaunty birthday hat atop of her salt and pepper hair that was braided into cornrows. "You're a good man. And better than that snooty Dr A. I don't even understand why they even let him in sometimes, he only does the job for the paycheck. You actually interact with us and you actually like the animals. You just gotta stop playing the fool sometimes."

That was... actually the nicest thing the gruff receptionist had ever said to him. "Gertrude. My heart!"

"Don't push it, Dr Logan."

"That was a declaration of love, Gertie!"

"It's Gertrude, Dr Logan."

"You can call me Gar, Gertie, I think we're at the part of the relationship where we can call each other by our first names."

The receptionist chose to roll her eyes at him at that point. That was okay, what he and she had was true love.

He blew a kiss at her as he got up to go towards the bar and see if they had any bar snacks that were vegan-friendly.

As he gave a cursory glance at the menu and made his order, he looked up just in time to see a dark hooded figure and a man in a trench coat walk in, the man taking off the black material to reveal a dark blue shirt with an eagle spread across it. Next to him, the hooded figure threw back the hood to reveal blue-black hair, and a pale face with big eyes accentuated with dark liner.

His jaw dropped. Raven Roth was at the bar where he was.

He was convinced this was not because he was stalking her. He was there before she did, and for fuck's sake, his colleagues picked the place. If he had to swear under an oath he'd do it!

What to do then? Hide under the bar? Pretend to be Spanish? Join the group where Gertrude's party was being held and pretend not to see them for the rest of the evening? Maybe he could slip out the door-

" Dr G!" One of the volunteers yelled, "Can you get us more fries over here? And blue cheese buffalo wings!"

The yell had caused half the patrons of the bar to look over at his direction, including Raven and her male companion. He wasn't that surprised to find out that it was Dick who was with her.

He could still growl internally at his bad luck though. Especially since Raven had paused when she saw him, eyes widening by just a bit, but Dickfacé Vin Diesel had seen him and made his way across to him. Raven followed behind.

"Garfield, right?" The man said jovially as he grasped his hand in a firm handshake. "I'm Dick Grayson, remember? When I was with Raven at the shelter?"

Of course, he'd remembered. Was the other man implying that his memory was so bad that he'd forget someone he'd met about more than a week ago? That prat.

"Dick, of course!" He replied back with a cheerful smile, with emphasis on the name Dick. "You're Raven's friend!" The last bit was said with emphasis because fuck it, Garfield could be petty.

Dick laughed because that's what smarmy assholes did. The asshole. "Yeah,Raven and I were around the area, wanted to check out the bar-"

" What are you doing here?" Raven asked, and the two men turned their attention to her. Her voice did not dip in any way out of her monotone though Gar liked to imagine that he heard a slight change, like a little waver.

To prove that he was not, in fact,being creepy and/or stalking her, he gestured to the birthday party behind him, grinning. "Gertie's birthday." He said. "You remember Gertie, the receptionist? They invited me, and I should be heading back-"

"I see," Raven said, cutting him off rather quickly. "Well, we shouldn't be interrupting-"

"Oh no, it was no trouble really-" Gar hastened to reassure her.

"Dick." She said, curtly, and the smirking man turned his attention to her. "Come on." She looked back at Gar and he thought he saw her eyes soften a little. "It was good seeing you, Garfield." She said, before she headed off to the back of the bar. Dick looked apologetic as he turned back but the man also looked like he was trying not to laugh. The jerk.

"Great seeing you." The other man said before turning back and following Raven to the booth she had secured.

* * *

"Well, you're a mean person when you're not drunk, we can establish that." Dick said as he took his seat in the booth seat opposite Raven. "What did your vet do to you anyway? The man looked like you made out with his cat in front of him."

"We have to forgo the plan," Raven said brusquely. "I am not going to embarrass myself in front of the man who will be examining my cat in two days if he's going to know what I look like drunk!"

Dick raised an eyebrow. "Hey, it's going to be okay-"

"Also, the cat stealing-" Raven said, her voice a little higher than normal before she cleared her throat and spoke again, "If we stick with the plan...what happens if he comes across us or follows us when we find his place and I try to steal the cat again-"

"It'll be okay!" Dick said and fuck if Kori had a Voice for Disappointment that made her feel guilty, Dick's Voice of Authority made her feel like she had to snap to attention and listen. "That's the reason why I went up to him to say hi in the first place. Diffuse any awkwardness, say hi, ask him how he was, the usual small talk questions. Now that that's done, he'll be less likely to bother us." His brow furrowed. "Besides, I don't think he likes me, so he's less likely to come over."

Raven scoffed. Dick Grayson, not being liked? That was a rarity. "Now I know you're lying."

"I can tell." Dick insisted, holding up his menu to check on the drinks list. "The guy's voice is always weird when he sees me, and when he shook my hand just now he called me Dick."

"That's your name though." Raven pointed out.

"I mean like he called me Dick like I was _A_ dick, not Dick." Dick tried to explain, to no avail.

"A lot of your life problems might be resolved if you just called yourself Rick instead, you know that, right?" Raven said drily. This was a very well visited topic. Dick had, through his adult life, got into multiple misunderstandings solely because he sometimes introduced himself rather straightforwardly.

It made sense, anybody would be pissed off if someone came up to them, stretched their hand out, and happily introduced themselves, "Hi, Dick!" The consequent fighting, slapping, and tears should have been obvious.

Luckily Dick was great at MMA and then later went for a few classes on diplomacy and understanding nuance, under Kori's insistence. Raven approved.

"Anyway, we'll just take precautions," Dick reassured. "I'm here. If it seems as though we're following him to his place, we can just say that it's on the way, and I won't let you steal any more cats. It'll be okay, just take a deep breath and exhale."

Raven glared at him from across the table. "Fine, but just for that, we're getting snacks. Those blue-cheese buffalo wings sound good."

Dick laughed. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think the reason why you're acting rude is because you're flustered and you want to impress this guy." He teased.

"You're right," Raven said, taking the menu, and examining the food and prices. She quashed the little thought in her head that agreed with what Dick said. "You really don't know any better."

* * *

Garfield Logan was not happy, damnit.

Firstly, no one had told him that the supposedly vegan-friendly fries were cooked in duck fat and so now he had probably helped contribute to the death of a cute fluffy duck somewhere.

Secondly, Gertie, former ally, looked at him like he had strangled his own cat when he presented her the scented candle he bought from the nearest Bed, Bath and Beyond before arriving at the party.

"Oh, Dr Logan…" breathed the volunteer next to him in a hushed whisper. "Gertrude hates candles…"

"How can people hate candles?" Gar whispered back. "Especially this one! It's Vanilla! It smells like cookies and love! "

"Dude, didn't you know?" Another volunteer shook his head sadly. "Gertrude's first husband left her for a candle salesperson."

What terrible luck, honestly.

In the end, after many apologies to Gertrude, the receptionist had finally softened and told him not to worry, "You didn't know, and the gift was from your heart, Dr G. I can't get mad at that."

But that still weighed heavily on his mind.

And to top it off, the Raven situation.

Why the hell was she being so rude? It was as though she didn't want to see him just now. He thought they were buddies now, or at the very least cordial with each other! Sure, she did seem quite sorry about being mean to him before she left but that was irrelevant! Did she NOT want to see him? Was she mad at someone she knew for busting in on her date night with Schlong McDick?

Maybe DingDong Dickbell was the reason, and maybe his jerkiness was rubbing off on Raven? That could make sense! Couples generally tend to be alike each other after awhile! Maybe too much exposure to that asshole was the reason why she was being mean!

He wondered if that would happen if he and Raven were a couple. Would they inevitably have each other's traits? Imagining Raven as a vegan, or telling goofy jokes, or even laughing and next to him playing video-games…

 _Okay, Logan, going too far ahead. You promised yourself not to hit on anyone's girl, and this fantasizing won't help._

He tried to think of him getting some of Raven's traits: him wearing dark clothes, or hoodies that hid beautiful blue-black hair, bangs framing large, dark eyes, and a mouth that curved itself into the smallest of smiles that lit up her face like a small candle glow…

 _DUDE, SNAP OUT OF IT._

What the hell was going on? This was supposed to be harmless flirting and a challenge to make his friend/acquaintance laugh with cheesy pick up lines. What the hell was he doing obsessing over someone he barely knew?

He scowled, taking a swig of beer that he'd bought to soothe his sorrows.

At least he'd made sure it was vegan beer. He'd given the fries to the other volunteers, and they had devoured it with some sort of bloodlust he'd never expected to see from people dedicated to help animals.

He did a quick, casual glance across the bar, where Dick and Raven were, sitting in the private corner of the bar. The two of them were at the moment ….quietly sitting apart, eating chicken and sipping their drinks?

If they were a couple, they were definitely the most private of ones. Gar had been in a few relationships in his life, and maybe it was more about him as a person but when he was in a relationship, he cuddled. He liked some sort of physical contact, nothing too sexual, just some handholding, nuzzling, hair petting maybe... But this couple? Nada. Beyond a few murmured conversations, they didn't touch or interact in anyway that made it seem like they were a couple.

Then again, it wasn't as though he could see what they were doing.

Garfield got up from the booth he was sitting and casually went to the bar, where he could get a good vantage point while pretending to scour the menu like he wanted another beer.

Perfect. He could see the both of them now. He could see Raven eating a piece of chicken, while Dick said something that made Raven roll her eyes and Dick laugh.

And he realised that despite the fact that he had the advantage on view, it was still useless as he wanted to hear what they had to say.

Damn sight, it could do almost everything but hear, touch, smell and taste things!

He sighed, and waved the bartender over, asking for another beer.

The vantage point did allow him to see what was going on. Raven had what seemed to be a glass of a purple drink in front of her, and she'd taken a few sips all while talking to Dick. The man nodded, but seemed more engrossed in writing in his notebook.

A small growl emitted from his throat. Jerkwad wasn't even listening to her? What kind of boyfriend was he? The man jotted down a few notes before he stood up, pausing to bend over and say something lowly to Raven. The woman looked flushed but she waved a hand and the other man chuckled, before sidling out of the booth to venture to the bathroom. The woman was left alone.

Right. He assumed he and her were friends. Maybe he could go over to talk to her, casual convo style? But did that broach on the code? Was Dickerson Schlongbottom the jealous type? He could claim he wanted to check up on how her cat was doing, cat lovers did that. But would that compromise on his standing as a vet? What kind of ethics did Vets cover anyway? Was this something he missed in school at one point?

The dilemma resolved itself when the woman in question looked up, locked eyes with Garfield and before he could do anything, she raised herself off the table and tried to sidle out, all while waving at his direction.

He looked behind him just to see if Raven was waving at someone else but when he found only the bewildered look of a woman who was just as confused as he was, he turned back just to come face to face with Raven.

" Hch," was the sound Garfield Logan made.

" Hey!" was the greeting Raven Roth made, a grin on her face. "How's it hanging?"

Garfield Logan had absolutely no idea what was going to happen next, and as he stared at the happy woman, he decided that it was time he found out.


	7. The Recitation of Past Events

When Raven opened her eyes, she couldn't tell what was happening at first.

Her room was dark. But then again, it was always dark. When she had moved into the two-room flat that was situated above the bookstore that she had bought with some of the money her father had left her, along with her own savings, Raven had made sure that she had first pick of the rooms, aka the room that was spacious enough to fit her bed, knickknacks, and two to three bookcases, from ceiling to floor (The rest of the books were relegated to the other bookcases all around the living room). Most importantly, she needed a room with no windows to let in the rotten thing known as sunlight.

She didn't get that, cause both bedrooms had windows. However, she did manage to get a room that showed the back alley behind the shop, which was also the room that the bright sunshine of the morning did not manage to hit. Raven didn't mind that the room had a view that peeked into the local hangouts for alternative youths looking for cigarettes. It didn't matter. Sunlight in the morning was a terrible, terrible thing and she would do anything to make sure she would never be in direct contact with the exuberant fierce daylight that they had in sunny Jump City.

She hated the sun. It was too bright, for one. Raven had nothing against mornings, if not for the dratted bright light that came along with the day. When Kori came along, with her tanned skin and her proclamation that she loved the mornings, the outdoors and sports,along with the heat that came with the bright sun, Raven had happily given her the room where the sunlight streamed in and overlooked the busy street, guilt-free. She'd installed blackout curtains in her room, so that she'd never have to be at the mercy of the morning sun.

So it wasn't out of the ordinary to wake up in a dark room.

However, a pitch-black room where she could see nothing and something was clearly covering her face?

She sat up in a hurry, disturbing the creature that had taken refuge on her head, and it hissed as it receded towards somewhere in the dark room. Azar then.

She'd switched on the table lamp on the bedside table next to her bed, finding herself in her room, still wearing yesterday's clothes. She shook her head, trying to get rid of the pounding headache and the taste of hair in her mouth.

Grimacing, she got up from her bed to open the door and venture to the bathroom. Maybe cleaning the fuzzy feeling out of her mouth would be a great idea.

A quick brushing and wash up later, she'd stumbled out of the bathroom to find Dick Grayson, dressed impeccably, reading the newspaper and brewing coffee, like a father in a cheesy 1950s movie.

"Well, someone's up." He greeted Raven.

Raven made a small growl and headed straight for the cupboard where her tea was stored.

The both of them sat in companionable silence while Raven made her tea, Dick occasionally flipping the page of the newspapers the only thing that could be heard. The woman held the mug around her fingers, finally taking a sip of the hot drink.

"Mm." she said. She sat down at the kitchen table, letting the hot drink seep in.

After another short pause, Dick said, "So." He was truly a man of eloquence in the morning.

"So."Raven said, taking another sip of her drink.

This continued for a good thirty minutes or so before they were finally able to carry out a full conversation that involved more than just single words.

"So. What happened." Raven asked, flatly.

Dick grinned, "The experiment went well." He said, opening up his notebook. "I think we've pretty much got a good idea of what happens when you're drunk."

"I only had one drink." Raven said, still in the same flat tone. She could probably use words of more than one syllable. Maybe.

"Well, yeah, but I took some time to calculate alcohol content and the drink we picked has been known to nearly put a bull to sleep if you take too much." Dick admitted. "We should have done our research properly, they recently changed up the recipe of the drink…"

Raven made a sound that either meant she was a horse that wanted to be led to water but not necessarily drink it, or that she was annoyed.

"In any case, we'll have to work through the process of testing again, and we'll make sure that we'll reduce any…extra variable." Dick said.

Raven looked at him again. "What. Happened. Richard." She growled each syllable out. She was pretty sure any memory of what happened the day before had stopped right around the time she'd finished her last chicken wing.

She was pretty sure she remembered a pair of green eyes.

Why did she remember green eyes?

Suddenly, she drew back a gasp.

"Garfield." She said, drawing every syllable out with a sense of forboding.

* * *

"So." Said Vic, as he'd spooned a plateful of bacon onto his plate. In a separate frying pan, he scooped up a serving of mushrooms on his plate and then another, making sure the already present spinach on that plate was still sitting right.

"So." Garfield said, sipping a cup of orange juice, absently petting a black and white fluffy cat sitting on the chair. MC Nugget nuzzled his hand.

"What happened man?" Vic asked, putting his plate in front of him. While he wasn't a huge fan of vegan meals himself, years of arguing with Gar on their dietary preferences meant that he and Gar tolerated each other's food choices, and also learnt how to cook breakfast for each other so that they could take turns on cooking. "I thought you went to a work birthday party of something."

Garfield shrugged. "Dude, I told you," He said, taking another sip of his orange juice and picking up the cat, settling him on his lap and scratching him behind his ears. "I bumped into Raven and her boyfriend at the bar, and then he left to do something douchey, leaving Raven all alone. She saw me, came over and then we started chatting."

Vic spooned a spoonful of eggs in his mouth. "Uhhuh, and bacon insects must exist, cause pigs are flying."

" I'm telling ya!" Gar protested, swinging his legs in frustration. "Raven and I talked!"

"Uhhuh." Victor laughed, using his fork to point at Garfield. "Fine, little pipsqueak. Let's say, on the off chance that I believe you-"

"You should!" The blonde argued. Seriously, why didn't anyone ever believe him when he said something that was vaguely unbelievable? "Raven and I talked! We had a full-length conversation!"

"Again, say on the off-chance I believe you-" Victor repeated. "What happened then?"

Garfield rolled his eyes. "If you don't believe what I'm gonna say, then what's the point?"

" I just wanna hear gossip, little dude." Vic chuckled. "Also, you're kinda like my little bro. I wanna know what's going on in your life."

Garfield growled, "Argh fine, I'll tell you but you can't just be all...Victor about it!"

An eyebrow was raised. "All Victor about it?"

"Yeah, you know." Garfield put down his utensils to wave his fingers in a faux-mysterious manner. "Cause you're Vic. And everything you do is so Victor."

" Are you actually running out of adjectives, little dude?" Victor laughed. "Okay tell me everything then. I don't want you to suddenly run low on all the other words too."

Garfield rolled his eyes, but began.

* * *

 _" Hey, how's it hanging?"_

 _Garfield blinked. Then he blinked again._

 _Then he frowned._

 _" Are... are you asking me..."_

 _"Cause you look crossed!" Raven chirpily replied._

 _Silence._

 _" I ...I don't..." Garfield might have started stammering. He wasn't super sure if he was._

 _"Cause Jesus was hanging on a cross! And when you looked over at me you looked upset, so you were cross! That's why I asked how you were HANGING. Did you get it? " Raven happily replied. Also something Garfield wasn't sure if he was seeing correctly-Raven HAPPY? And what on earth was that joke? Was it even be considered a joke? Did people even tell jokes like that._

 _He tried talking again. Cause that was his default mode in times of nervousness and confusion. When in doubt, talk it out. That would make a great epitaph on his tombstone. "You okay there, Raven?" He asked tentatively. "Did you hit your head just now? Are you sick?"_

 _Raven grinned, and wasn't that another very weird thing. "That's a very silly thing to ask!" She said. "I'm perfectly fine, as it were. I just thought I'll come over and say hi! Cause you're high up!"_

 _Garfield blinked again before he looked down, realising that since he was currently sitting on a bar stool that made him sit higher up than usual, technically she was right. Still. "Raven." He said slowly. "You're making funny puns. And really bad jokes."_

 _Raven nodded gleefully. "Uhhuh!"_

 _"What on earth-" Garfield scratched his head, running through the number of possibilities that could be happening right now. Did Raven have a twin sister called Rhonda? Did the witch who cast an evil spell on Raven to make her all moody and stuff break the curse on her? Was Raven having a Norman Bates moment? What on earth was going on?_

 _A waving hand in front of him did not snap him out of his stupor._

 _Neither did two snapping fingers in front of his nose._

 _A small slap on the face, on the other hand..._

 _"Ow!" Garfield, did not in any sense of the word, squeal. Rather it was a guttural, manly emission of pain. "Why?" He clutched at his face, yelling at the woman who had dealt him the blow._

 _"You weren't paying attention to me!" Raven said, and god was she pouting? She wasn't supposed to be looking that cute when pouting! "Anyway, I like bad jokes, especially puns, cause they contain wordplay, and I like wordplay, cause they're a play on words, like in books!" She turned to him with a sudden, scrutinising look. "Have you read Terry Pratchett's books?"_

 _Garfield was very confused at the sudden change of topics. "I'm sure Terry seems like a great author." He soothed. Maybe that was the best way to do it, to agree with what Raven said. " Did she write many romances?" He asked. It made sense right? If happy Raven was this happy, maybe she secretly liked romance novels._

 _The look of absolute outrage on Raven's face was enough to drain any colour he had on his face. " Erm..."_

 _" A fie upon thee, sir!" Raven said, angrily. Did she somehow get a British accent? "For that insult on Sir Pratchett's name, I challenge thee to a duel!"_

 _" A what!" Garfield absolutely did not squeak in terror._

 _"A duel... of the fists!" Raven said, throwing her arm down in an invite to arm wrestle. "We'll see what happens when someone dares to feign ignorance on one of the godfathers of fantasy, philosophy and wordplay ever again!"_

 _Garfield did not really expect this to happen..._

* * *

" Now see, I know you're lying!" Victor said, waggling his finger while shaking his head. "No way did Raven try to arm wrestle you, or act that cute to you, or even make bad jokes-"

"But you agree that she would slap me?" Garfield whined. "I don't like violence, bro!"

"Pshhhh." Victor waved a hand. "Only reason why I want to keep hearing is cause I know you don't know anything about Terry Pratchett, cause you don't read. So you're lucky you're throwing in a lifeline for yourself there."

The blonde man cried in frustration but he continued...

* * *

 _" ...and YAS!" Raven yelled, pumping her fist in the air after soundly defeating Garfield in two rounds of arm wrestling. " I am the champ! Take that, and see if you'll ever insult Pratchett to my face ever again! "_

 _Garfield would mourn the loss of feeling in that hand. It was a good hand. It held on to things for him. " Ow."_

 _Raven turned to look at him, and because Garfield was a mulish, stubborn child who liked to win and was so confused on what was happening, stared back._

 _He must have done something to jar her because suddenly Raven's triumphant demeanour broke and Garfield was presented with the view of something he'd not expected to see: Raven's lower lip trembling, her eyes suddenly huge, teary, and -_

* * *

" A damnable lie!"

" OH MY GOD SHADDAP."

* * *

 _" I'm sorry!" Raven started crying. " I didn't mean to win!"_

 _A few things went through Gar's mind. What was going on? Why the fuck was Raven crying? Holy holy fuck, was she okay?_

 _Fuck, Garfield could handle cheerful Raven. He could handle crazy brave Raven. Hell, he could even handle normal, stoic Raven who could be a tad rude but still cute._

 _A crying Raven? Nope._

 _He quickly scanned around searching for the missing boyfriend who had clearly more or less abandoned his girlfriend in her emotional need. Fuck men like him. This was the reason why he was going to be a proper feminist and shit._

 _He still had no idea what to do and now it was obvious the crying Raven had caused a scene. She wasn't full out sobbing, but no one could ignore a crying girl who had tears staining the bar top. Patrons were looking over at his direction. His colleagues were staring at him, and Gertrude was shaking her head in disapproval. Fuck, even the bartender looked like she was disappointed._

 _Trying his best to placate the crying girl, his first thoughts were to wave at the bartender to get a glass of water._

 _Overpriced water, he may add. Water should not be that expensive especially if you consider that some places in America did not even have clean water._

 _But not the point._

 _The bartender was prompt in the order, and Gar took the glass from her, placing it in front of Raven with a quiet plonk on the bar top. She didn't notice at_ first, _until Garfield placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up, and Gar tried his best not to flinch hard. She looked like she had gone through_ terrible _breakup, and no wonder these people were looking at him all angry and shit._ _He tried to deflect, to distract her, and so he went for one of his default solutions…_

 _"What did the fish say when he swam up against a wall?"_

 _That caught her attention. "Wha?" she mumbled, and she hiccupped. It was kinda cute. But that was not the point._

 _He grinned, "Dam!" he said. And he knew he nailed the punchline._

 _There was silence as Raven stared at him inscrutably. Then she did something that Garfield still couldn't, and wouldn't be able to explain._

 _She laughed._

* * *

 _Dick was a very very confused man._

 _For the past few minutes, he'd went to relieve himself, and then made a quick call to Kori, who was waiting for a shoot to commence and wanted to see how he was doing. The two of them shared quick, heartfelt wishes, and then Dick, a little more relaxed and_ _happier, walked out of the men's bathroom …_

 _Only to find the booth that he and Raven occupied empty._

 _Panicked, he turned his head around quickly to see if Raven had left the bar and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the familiar blue-black hair next to a familiar dirty-blonde up at the bar. The relief quickly became tension, as he took stock of the situation and realised a few things._

 _1) Raven was talking to someone she barely knew._

 _2) Raven was VOLUNTARILY talking to someone she barely knew._

 _3) Raven was talking to someone she'd met only a scant few times, on her own accord, WHILE SMILING._

 _It bore repeating. SMILING._

 _Dick had, in the 7 years he'd known Raven, seen Raven smile at a few people. There was Kori, of course; Melvin, the employee who worked full-time at the bookstore; Melvin's siblings Timmy and Taylor; and, until nearly a month ago, Malcolm (he'd refused to call him Malchior even in his head, that man was a pompous shithead). She'd also smiled at them only after months of interaction. It was tough to be Raven Roth's friend, but when you were, she'd make sure you'd know it. Making conversation, especially from Raven, who didn't like talking to people she did not know, was like pulling teeth from a shark._

 _(And he'd done that once, it was a very long story, a crime syndicate wanted him to prove his worth as a new gang initiate when he was infiltrating it in a bid to get information and the police had refused to listen to him. So he did it. He'd also managed to get away with it too, his guardian had given him a rather eclectic home education. So it worked. But that was a whole other story.)_

 _In any case, Raven was the toughest nut to crack when it came to social pleasantries. The woman bordered between grumpy politeness and curt silence. This, however. This Raven was actually making conversation._

 _With Garfield Logan, no less._

 _Dick liked Garfield. Sort of. The man clearly didn't like him, though he had covered it up with nothing less than civility. He acted wary around Dick like a feral animal trying to figure if he was friend or foe. Which was understandable, Dick was a lot like him towards many people several years ago. However, Dick also understood men, and Garfield Logan seemed like he was a decent one. He was helpful and kind towards animals, he had never seemed to treat Raven with anything less than friendliness (though it was also kind of obvious he was trying to flirt with her, but that was another story). And if Victor Stone, a man whom the girls liked and trusted, was rooming with this man who was also his best friend, then it made sense that Garfield Logan was a good man._

 _If only he could figure out why Garfield didn't like him…_

 _He shook his head._

 _ **Focus, Dick. Focus**._

 _He quickly took out his notebook and started jotting down a few quick notes before he closed it and made his way slowly towards the two people._

* * *

"No." Raven stated, flatly.

"What?" Dick said, putting down his newspaper, a quizzical look on his face.

"Already you are putting out things that don't make sense." Raven continued, shifting a little. Her head was pounding, and honestly, nothing made sense. She was also feeling a little queasy, so no breakfast for her there. She took another sip of her tea and the pounding slowed down, melted into heat. A little better.

"Anyway,"she continued. "You're a liar, Dick Grayson. A lying liar who lies."

Dick raised his hands, "Hey, you know me, I'm telling you as it is. I'm a reporter at heart, and everything I said was completely truthful."

Raven narrowed her eyes. "How can I…"

"Trust me?" Dick said, removing his phone from his pocket. He opened up an app and showed Raven the screen. "I promise you, I recorded everything before I met you two, and we both agreed, with your consent, by the way, that I was allowed to record everything through any means necessary."

Raven rolled her eyes, but she knew it was probably true. Dick rarely lied about things like work, and the file shown on the screen was taking up a large amount of memory, which meant he probably got a good 15 minutes of conversation in there.

"Fine." She relented. "What happened next?"

Dick grinned. And Raven decided that she might regret everything.

* * *

 _"Dickerson!" Raven had yelled as Dick had walked up casually to the both of them, trying not to look like he had switched on the recording app on his phone."I missed ya!"_

 _He tried not to look too surprised at Raven's behaviour. The whole point of the study was to make it seem like it was as natural as possible, and if Dick was surprised by any of what Raven was doing, it would alert suspicion, especially to the already hyperalert and wary Dr Logan next to her._

Hey _you!" Dick smiled, throwing a small grin at Garfield over Raven's head. The girl was already swinging her legs over the bar stool and Dick took the stool next to her, which meant that the girl was now situated between Garfield and Dick. "You doing okay?" He asked quietly in her ear. "Do you want to leave?"_

 _Raven looked at Dick and he was struck by how…cheery Raven was. Raven had never smiled like that without restraint much before, in fact, he could count the number of times she had done so. (The number was under 10, but considering the number of years they had been friends, it was a very small number.) She shook her head no and he decided to go along with what she wanted._

 _"Cool, okay." He said softly. "Let me know when you want to go, okay?"_

 _Raven smiled and nodded._

 _Dick's smile grew bigger and he decided to change the subject so that Garfield would not feel uncomfortable being around the two of them. "So, what have you guys been talking about?" he asked._

 _Raven took the opportunity to fill him in, and as she talked Dick took note of not just Raven's behaviour, but also how Garfield was acting. The man was sitting back, looking for all the world like he was listening to a good friend, the lazy grin and the way he filled in on some areas when Raven started rambling. And, if Dick wasn't wrong, he looked, for all the world, like he was listening intently to Raven._

 _The way someone would be if they were potentially…interested…in someone._

 _Dick tilted his head. "Huh." He said, musingly._

* * *

"What?" Raven asked, tilting her head.

Dick shook his head. "Nothing!" he protested. He had been thinking about it all morning while Raven had been asleep, and it made sense, but his theories had been wrong before, and he needed more evidence to support his hypothesis. "So as I was saying, you told me about you and Garfield were talking about…"

* * *

" _Halloween!" Raven yelled. "Candy is delicious, I love pumpkin spice lattes…"_

 _Garfield was too busy smiling and laughing. "Well, I figured it was your favourite holiday…"_

 _"Darn straight!" Raven yelled. "You should see what I do for the bookstore every Halloween, we do a holiday event, spooky music, seances, tarot readings-"_

 _Dick chuckled, careful not to say anything. He didn't want to interfere too much with the study at this point. Watching Raven interact with someone other than him when high on alcohol was a revelation. Perhaps this was useful information, watching this entire thing happen with him_ in _the sidelines was a good thing…_

 _"So, I suppose you join her for these events?" Garfield asked._

 _It had taken Dick a second longer to realise that he was actually talking to him for a change. "Oh, I don't do Halloween_ , _" Dick said, quickly going with what was easiest: the truth. "I'm usually pretty busy most days, and Halloween's really a holiday for kids and adults who want an excuse to dress up and drink really…"_

 _For some reason Dick couldn't understand, Garfield's body language seemed to tense up. "That sucks, dude." The blonde man said casually, but Dick could almost SEE the distinctive air of disdain towards him. Dick nearly frowned in response but he managed to catch himself._

 _"Yeah, it totally sucks." He smiled, gesturing at Raven. "Halloween has always been Raven's holiday, anyway, she hates all the others, so usually she just does what she wants to do. Me, I tend to stay away…"_

 _Garfield took a gulp of his drink. "Yeah. I get that."_

 _His face told him otherwise._

 _"You should join us!" Raven said, totally unaware of the entire chaos that had erupted between the two men. "This year. Both of you! Kori won't be back this time, but I can still organize things on my own!"_

 _Garfield's attention was given entirely to Raven, so much so that he had not noticed Dick's face when Kori's name was mentioned. "Who's Kori?"_

 _"She's my roommate!"Raven said. "And…"_

 _"Raven!" Dick blurted out, quickly. His head had come across an intriguing theory and he wanted to test it out. "It's getting late, do you want to check up on Azar now?"_

 _Raven turned to look at him in surprise and thankfully, she nodded. He was counting his lucky stars that apparently Raven still had some sense to trust him in times like these when she turned back to look at Garfield. "We were having such a great conversation though." She said mournfully._

 _Before Dick could figure out a way to placate her, Garfield got up from his bar stool. "Well, I could do with going home right now, anyway. "The man said. "MC might miss me, and this is one of the first time in a few days that I got my nights free." He went to the counter to pay up his bill, turning to the two of them."Do you mind if I walk back with you guys?"_

 _Dick was about to make up some sort of excuse when Raven, who had been looking sad, lit up. She turned to Dick, with huge pleading eyes._

 _How was Dick supposed to react to that kind of plea? "Fine," he muttered. Raven looked gleeful, and Garfield, still a little apprehensive, nodded, muttering something about having to say goodbye to his colleagues first._

 _"Raven," Dick whispered to her as the man was walking away. "You sure about this?"_

 _Raven looked at him, and despite the fact that she was clearly a little drunk (from one glass of alcohol, no less, Dick had to check with the bartender exactly what she'd mixed up), she'd looked at him with the most impervious stares. "Of course." She'd said, looking for all the world like she was normal, everyday Raven. A bit unsteady on her feet, but he could tell that Raven was still in control. "Plans are plans, we will stick with this to see what happens next. " Dick was about to question how drunk Raven was when she'd piped up again, saying, "The Witch Supreme needs this information."_

 _Right. She was technically still somewhat in control but her head was wandering off, just a little._

* * *

"Huh." Raven said. "I vaguely remembered that. So you're telling me I still have a few mental faculties in control when I am under the influence?"

Dick nodded. "Looks like it." He'd said.

The woman groaned, letting her head collapse against the table in shame. "God, I hate myself." She muttered.

"You talked his ear off the whole time when you were walking home, by the way. He asked you for your opinions on good graphic novels, and both of you talked about it the whole way home."Dick tapped his temple as though trying to remember. "In fact, you told him to consider reading the graphic novel version of an Octavia Butler book, and he seemed intrigued."

"I did what," Raven said, voice still muffled against the wooden table.

"You told him it had elements of sci-fi in it as well as important questions of life. He seemed intrigued."

Raven groaned again. "Oh fuck. You are telling the truth," she said, croakily. " We just had a new shipment of the novels on Thursday, and I've been recommending the novel on the shop front and on the web-store..."

"Yeap,"Dick said. "So, it turns out then when you're drunk, you're happy, very defensive of books and authors, and laugh at bad jokes."

"I laughed,"Raven said. "At his bad jokes. Oh, gods, I think I remembered one about a dam. It was SO BAD."

Dick had to smile.

"So what happened in the end?"

"Well, we walked him home, and you made us watch him going into the apartment before we left," Dick said. " Also, when we left, you saw MC Nugget at the window and waved at him really happy. You were about to make a jump up the fire escape to say hi..."

"You stopped me right?" Raven asked, desperately.

"Yeap," Dick said. "We managed to get away from the fire escape just as the light came on in the bedroom. Then we came back, you took your cat and then went to your room, and I crashed on the couch. No movement through the night, from what I could tell."

Raven sighed. "You're a lifesaver, Richard."

Dick raised his cup of coffee at her. "Nothing to it. So... when are we doing the next location?"

Raven groaned.

* * *

"Hmmmmmmm." Victor Stone murmured, staring down his roommate. The man gulped and tried not to look too uncomfortable at his scruntinizing.

"I won't lie, little squirt. This entire story sounds like an episode on Broad City." Victor said. "However, you have just namedropped two authors that I know you didn't come up with."

"I TOLD YOU!" Garfield yelled, triumphantly. "Now do you believe me?"

Victor waved a hand, but Garfield knew that he'd won.

 _ **A/N:** It's not the best ending. And Raven may seem like she's a little OOC, but I was working with combining the Emoticlones in the canon, and then making it modern AU level. Then again, not every bit of fanfic is realistic. Just roll with this?_


	8. The Solidification of Friendships

Raven wasn't sure exactly what was going on.

She had taken time off from the shop so that she could bring Azar over to the vet. Not that she was leaving the shop unattended, she had left the store in the hands or Melvin and her siblings.

It helped that they were good employees. Melvin at 21 was the oldest, currently in her third year of university. Her youngest Brother, Taylor, was taking a gap year so that he could work before going to college, working at the shop during the day and freelancing design at night. The middle sibling, Timmy didn't often work at the store, but popped by every month like clockwork to help Raven with bookkeeping and accounting, as it was his major. All in all, the three of them were like family to Raven.

Well technically, it was cause they were family. Raven's great grand-aunt's grandkids. So they were cousins of some sort. But Raven digressed.

It was early afternoon when she had finally reached the animal shelter. Stepping on to the parking lot, she'd frowned.

At this point she... really had no idea how to proceed. The last time she'd entered the shelter, she technically didn't step into the vet's clinic, as most of the paperwork and admin had happened on the shelter lobby itself.

Where was she supposed to go exactly? There weren't any discernible signs.

She sighed and reached into her pocket to grab her phone, hesitant but ultimately resigned. It was practical after all, and if she had a resource from someone she was acquainted with, why not？

She tapped on the name and waited for him to pick up. She told herself that any residual awkwardness would have to wait...

 _" Hello?"_

Residual awkwardness apparently didn't wait. Residual awkwardness stormed to the front of the line demanding to see the supervisor. She could practically feel her face turn red.

" Dr Logan." She said, as drily as possible, shifting the weight of the cat carrier in her hand. At least her vocal chords could be relied on, thank GOD for years of indifference. " It's Raven here. I'm just wondering how to get to the vet's office."

There was a couple of seconds of silence, so long that Raven had to hold her phone out to check if they were still connected. Then, _"Raven!"_ said the voice, as though the owner was disbelieving and in shock. _"I didn't... I mean..."_

Well, confusion she could deal with. She could at least feign confidence over a confused man. "We have a vet's appointment, Garfield?" She said.

 _"I know_ that, _it's just... I could have sworn-you're early!"_ The man protested. _"I have you scheduled at 1.30 pm, after lunch... I'm not even on shift yet!"_

Raven frowned, and looked down on her phone.

11.30.

She must have gotten the time wrong.

Fuck, she KNEW it was at 1.30, she'd even wrote it down in her reminder app. What possessed her to take Azar in two whole hours of before the appointment?

"I ...must have read the time wrongly." Raven said slowly. "I am sorry-"

There was a shuffling, a sound of chairs scraping, a cat's yowl, then, _" No no!"_ The man protested. _"I swear, you're fine, just... I'll finish up and I'll meet you at the clinic -"_

"No, no, you don't have to-" Raven protested.

The sound of the phone clicking meant that Garfield had disconnected the call.

Raven sighed.

She had been feeling... a lot out of sorts since the bar, and she didn't want Garfield to think that she was an irresponsible floozy who couldn't keep a proper schedule. If what Dick said was true, she was basically a bit of a flirt when drunk, and she was embarrassed to let someone else see her this messy. It was like watching Dick try and hit the keys to every sappy Backstreet Boys ballad.

Kori had video of that somewhere. She was pretty sure.

Nevertheless, Raven shook her head, deciding that it would be good to spend two hours at a nearby cafe or something. There was simply no point sitting in the shelter looking and being awkward for two hours.

Though what kind of cafe would let her carry Azar into the establishment? And she really didn't feel comfortable opening the cage to let the black cat out, the cat was currently making very unhappy yowling noises.

She lifted the carrier to look into the dark void currently situated inside. The void stared back, frightened, and let out a long, throaty unhappy sound.

" I know, I know." She soothed. Or tried to. She really wasn't sure if her voice was even something likeable. It was a bit gravelly and raspy for a female, something her Father never hesitated to bring up when he was alive, and wanted to supposedly take her down a few pegs. Or something.

She'd handle the gaslighting and old verbal abuse for later, this was not the time.

She looked around and decided to try her luck at the cafe opposite the shelter, figuring she could at least kill some time there.

She'd struck gold: the cafe apparently was pet-friendly, and a waitress with the name tag Karen B. was kind enough to seat the nervous cat and her very grumpy owner at the small corner of the cafe, outside and away from the small children screaming around the place while their moms were talking and ignoring their screams. It helped settle Azar a little and Karen B suggested getting a cloth to cover up the carrier so Azar could get some privacy.

"I have two of my own, back east." Said Karen B wistfully. "They're with my parents now, they're looking after them while I go to grad school here. Is this your first cat?"

Raven nodded.

"She's a beaut, she is." Karen bent over, cooing as Azar crouched in her cage, staring suspiciously at the new strange face. "I'll make sure to get you a saucer of water for her while I get your order out-"

Raven let the waitress chatter as she undid her cardigan, leaving her in a black lace blouse. She draped the material over the exposed part of the cage, making sure that Azar had limited viewing of the outside world.

Karen looked over and grinned, "Aw, see? Little T'challa is all quieter now!"

Raven herself was stunned. She didn't realised how well it had worked. Azar had stopped yowling. "Thank you." She said, quietly.

"De nada," Karen B smirked as she left.

* * *

Garfield, who had rushed through his routine despite the fact that he had absolutely no reason to, had jumped off the bus that stopped opposite the shelter when he realised that Raven had left two text messages, telling him that she was currently at a cafe and maybe they could have lunch first since they still had some time left.

He recognised the name of the cafe, they offered one of the best vegan mac and cheese, and one of the waitresses Karen B always added a little hot sauce for him, giving it that kick he never knew he needed in the dish. He could eat, the man had skipped his breakfast so that he could rush down to meet Raven, but instead he was meeting her for what was turning into an impromptu lunch date.

Er. That is. Not a date. An impromptu lunch outing? A Winging It Lunch? A Friendly Breakfast Lunch? Friend Brunch? Frunch?

He was interrupted from sounding out alternative names for Frunch by an annoying sound, the sound of a frat boy that for some reason made it through college and somehow became a vet just like Garfield, only less interested in the animals and more in it for the money.

The voice of Dr A. Phillipedes, shitty veterinarian and all around asshole.

God Garfield hated him. What was it with men who had black hair and thought they were better than everyone else? Like Garth Doris, the marine-biologist who competed with Garfield in every subject all through high school, currently sailing the world on a boat trying to find a way to mate with a dolphin or something? Or Dickbell Trousersnake aka gel-head and Raven's shitty assed boyfriend who was always too busy for Raven? Why were all the black-haired people around him all assholes?

Wait that wasn't right. Not everyone who had black hair was an asshole. Like Victor…wait he was an asshole, scratch that.

Like Raven for example... who was currently the audience for Dr A Phillipedes.

As he bent over a chair trying to flirt hard with Raven.

Who looked like she wanted to snap his head off with a spoon.

Whoops, maybe he should break that up.

"Rae-rae!" He yelled loudly, causing both Dr A and Raven to look up from their intense conversation, Raven still keeping her very deeply burrowed frown on her face. He moved quickly, hoping against hope that he did not misread the signals and that she would go along with the plan.

" I missed you, baby girl!" He started cooing, making his voice sound as sappy as possible. "You didn't tell me you were gonna bring your hot ass over here." He pouted, his eyes urgently boring holes into hers, trying to get her to play along.

Raven, whose default reaction to everything seemed to be dry, faintly ludicrous stares, did try her best to play along. " Oh...honey bear." She drawled. "Of course, I wanted to surprise you. So very very much." She then tried to top that performance with a look that Garfield supposed was trying to be sexy, but gave her eyes a twitchy, mad sort of look instead.

Garfield had to smile, it was the only way to conceal laughter that was threatening to bellow out of his chest.

" Woah, this your girl, Dr G?" said Dr A, who was thankfully backing off the chair, hands upright to show that he had meant no harm. " Sorry, little G, didn't mean to run in on a guy's squeeze-"

The lascivious wink he gave Raven at the last bit betrayed the lie. Garfield chose to ignore that in favour of hamming it up more.

"Oh my dear butternut squash!" He said, pushing Dr A away like he was nothing but air, and seating himself on the chair that Dr A had been monopolizing earlier. "Tell me all about your day, hot tamale, cause every second away from you is such sweet sorrow!" He took the opportunity to grab at her hands, staring her down looking for all the world like a love-lorn fool.

Raven, to her credit, did try her best to play along. " Oh, sugar cookie." She said, as drily as she could, staring daggers at Garfield's dancing eyes. "The days are long and arduous, and winding and dark without your presence to be around-"

"Okay he's gone now." whispered Garfield. Sure enough, Dr A had left the cafe, making vomiting noises as he'd crossed the road back to the shelter, throwing them glances of near-contempt. Garfield though only let go of her hands when the man had crossed the carpark and entered the shelter.

Shame though. They were nice hands. They fitted around his quite nicely.

Not that he was noticing, of course.

Raven snatched her hands back brusquely. " I ...I could have handled that myself there!" The woman spluttered. " I did not want to be rescued-"

"So, you were okay with Dr A trying to hit on you?" Garfield retorted, lightly but feeling incredulous. He did her a favour there and once again she was spitting on his gift of not getting hit on by creepy men.

Maybe he was wrong, her boyfriend's rudeness didn't rub off on her. She was clearly a horrid bitch all by herself. He grabbed a menu, using it to cover his face, grumpily deciding that perhaps today he would indulge in a burrito bigger than his head.

There was a pause, and Raven sighed. "Right, I shouldn't have..." she stopped. Then ," Thank you." She muttered quietly. "I needed that."

Garfield grudgingly nodded, realised that because he had a menu in front of his face Raven couldn't see him, lowered the menu, grudgingly nodded once again, then lifted the menu so that it covered his face once again.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Raven tried to sullenly make conversation. "Thank you for coming in so quickly." She said. It came out grumpy, but that was expected.

"It's okay, I didn't really have anything going on anyway." Garfield replied in a similar tone.

It was just then that Karen B buzzed by, looking contrite. "I am so so sorry for leaving you there with that asshole-" she'd began before looking at the new member of the frunch party. "Garfield!" She said enthusiastically. "I didn't realise you and Raven here were friends!"

Garfield was about to open his mouth to correct Karen B on her assumption when Raven chimed in. "We are." She said, turning her head back to look at Garfield. "Friends." While her voice did not dip outside her usual monotone, her eyes told a different story, and it told Garfield that she meant what she said, about them being friends. He relaxed at this point, and he felt his shoulders loosen and hackles lower.

Karen B obviously did not realise how significant the remark was. "Well, howdy doodily to you two then!" She said cheerfully. "G, your usual?"

Garfield smirked,"You know it, B!"

Karen turned to Raven and said ," I got your tea ready, do you want me to serve it to you now or wait till Dr G gets his order?"

Raven replied the former, and when Karen B left, she had left two more relaxed, friendlier people.

"What was all that fawning over me when that man came by? " Raven asked. "Thank you for that, by the way. Your methods were unorthodox, but they had results."

Garfield grinned. "Dr A, unfortunately, works with me at the shelter." He said. "The man is the biggest a-hole and he's mean to the kids, but I have to work with him, and he hates anything gushiness related." The man suddenly lit up. "Speaking of work... where's -"

Raven indicates the chair next to her, where a cardigan was covering up something big and bulky. "She didn't like the carrier much." She said simply. "I didn't want to let her out..."

"Good choice." Garfield nodded. "Cats can be skittish and annoyingly fast." He settled back into the chair.

They spent the next few seconds awkwardly looking down at the table, Raven studying her hands very very thoroughly while Garfield studiously pretended he was memorising the menu that he had seen a thousand times before.

"So... you got back home okay." Garfield began. He mentally slapped himself in the forehead and tried to make up for it. "From the bar." He said again, wincing at how awkward the entire thing sounded. "From two days ago!" He finished lamely.

Raven's very unimpressed look suggested that he might as well go into Detective work since he was clearly so observant.

Even in his imagination Raven was snarky.

Luckily Karen B dropped by again with Raven's tea, which came in a teapot and two small teacups. Evidentially Karen B thought that there would be two people partaking in the tea. Raven looked at the tea and then at Garfield.

"Would you..." She began, neutrally, gesturing at the tea in question.

Garfield, confused, looked at the two tea cups and back at Raven before he realised what she was getting at.

"Oh, no, please! " Garfield said, gesturing back at her. "Tea ain't my thing, go ahead!"

Raven looked at him suspiciously but poured a cup of tea for herself, taking a small sip afterwards.

"To answer your question, yes," She replied. "I did get back safely, thanks to Dick. It's nice to have him around sometimes."

Dickhead, went the small, petty voice in Gar's head. He ignored it.

"Good." Garfield nodded. "Thank you for insisting on making sure I got back safely."

Raven nodded back.

" I should have asked you two upstairs but well, it was getting a bit late..."

If Garfield didn't know any better, he could have sworn a small look passed Raven's face.

"Right." Raven muttered.

The two of them sat in silence until Garfield decided to break it.

" It was fun, you know." He said quietly. "Like honestly I thought you were kinda cool before but then you're really smart as well and you're nice."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Nice."

Garfield nodded. " Yeah."

They sat there in bashful silence for a bit.

"That's... really nice of you to say that." Raven replied, just as quietly as Garfield had earlier.

The man frowned. "I didn't do it to be nice, mama." He clarified. The familiarity of the pet name he usually gave to women he was trying to flirt with slipped out but he had to make sure she knew that. It would be really kinda shitty for her to assume he was just being polite and flattering her just to be nice. "You know you're pretty cool right?"

The woman didn't answer, because Karen B had chosen that moment to come back with their orders and the food looked so good that they had quickly started tucking in.

"This is good." Said Raven in a surprised voice. "I didn't realise this cafe had such good food."

Garfield grinned. Okay, there was a topic he could handle! "And they make great vegan dishes!" He punctuated that sentence with a bite of his mac and cheese. " I come here for lunch here sometimes." He scooped up some more mac and cheese and waved it in front of Raven. "Here, try some."

" No I don't-"

" Go on, taste!" He insisted. Raven looked at the forkful with suspicion and reluctantly took a bite.

Her eyes widened. "Huh." Raven mused. "That's unexpected."

" Told ya, mama!" Garfield cheered happily, setting the fork down. Then the full implications of his actions hit him.

Did he just offer Raven food from his plate? From his fork? Did Raven just eat off his plate? What did this mean? Was she flirting with him? Was HE flirting with her? What was this? Did anything make sense? Who was he?

"It really is actually pretty good," Raven marveled, completely unaware of the breakdown Garfield was currently having. "I never thought that they would be able to come up with a cheese that would taste similar to actual cheese and they didn't, but this cheese seems lighter somehow..."

"Ngk," Garfield replied eloquently, deciding to stuff himself with a huge helping of mac and cheese so that he wouldn't say anything embarrassing.

Raven, luckily, did not notice anything.

"It really is delicious, thank you." She replied. Then, " I would offer you some of this stew, but-"

"It's cool." Garfield managed to say. "Karen B told me about it, it's got so much meat and real butter in it-"

"I haven't had food like this in awhile," Raven confesses, scooping a spoonful of stew into her mouth. She swallowed, looking pensive. "Does this place deliver?"

"Unfortunately nope." Garfield said, mournfully. " I asked KB about it-"

"...KB?"

" -but she said that they didn't have the resources to get food delivered out and besides, my office was just across the street, I should be able to walk over just to get my food fix-"

"Huh." Raven said. "That's a shame." She looked a little disappointed. "I could use this when I'm sick or something-"

" Don't you cook at home?" Garfield asked, frowning a little.

"My roommate and I are horrible cooks." She admitted. " Dick cooks when he's around, but he's always busy…"

" Of course he is." Muttered Garfield.

" So usually we get take-out and food-delivery." Raven finished.

The fact was, Raven looked so dejected, and Garfield couldn't fathom the idea of someone not being able to cook for themselves, and so before he could stop himself, he blurted out, " Eat with us."

Raven raised an eyebrow. " Isn't that what I am doing right now?" she said drily.

" No I mean, with me."

Eyebrow still raised.

" And Victor!" he amended again. " Eat with me and Victor!"

" But Victor isn't here right now-"

Was she stubbornly being obtuse right now?

" Oh my god, mama, you're killing me!" he grumbled. " Come over to our place for dinner when you're free. We'll make you a home-cooked meal."

Raven finally seemed to get the message, her eyes widening in shock before narrowing down into slits. " No." She said flatly.

" Why not!" Garfield demanded.

" I can't just…barge into your house willy-nilly whenever I get a little lonely and looking for food." She snapped. " What am I, Goldilocks?"

" Wouldn't that make us the bears?" Garfield said teasingly. " I mean, I can't be a bear. I don't have the physique for it. Victor maybe but I think he's strictly straight."

Raven was now flushed, and Garfield had to admit it was a cute look on her. " Firstly I don't have the hair to be Goldilocks and- wait why am I arguing with you on this?"

"Well, Goth-ilocks-" He ignored Raven's subtle, burning glare across the table. " I'm just saying. You have to come over to our place for dinner! Victor sometimes makes way too much food for himself and it'll be nice to have company-"

" You're doing this to be nice, and I won't take your pity cause you think I can't fend for myself-"

" Come on, Rae-rae!" Garfield whined. " You'll like the food, and you can even add stuff you want if you don't want to, and you said it yourself, Dickcheese McFrootloops is busy, so he can't cook-"

" Don't call me Rae-rae -what did you say about Dick?" Raven said, confused.

" The point is," Garfield tried to cover up his faux pas, cause insulting a girl's boyfriend was definitely not on form, right? "You should come over to our place for dinner. I have some nights off, and if you liked that vegan mac and cheese thing, I know a ton more vegan recipes you need to try!"

" I am NOT helping you forward your agenda on veganism on the unaware public," Raven said drily.

" Well, fineeeeee." Garfield huffed. " Be that way, but look, Victor and I can teach you how to cook, and it'll really be beneficial-"

Raven opened her mouth to retort but then closed it. Then she sighed. "Fine." She said ruefully.

" Really?" Garfield said, a bit surprised that he won the argument so easily.

"I've realised that I should be a little more gracious when people offer things to me." Raven grumbled. " Besides, I have to thank you for what you did for me today-"

" I would do the same for anyone." Garfield said automatically. Except not really.

" You're really too kind, honestly." Raven replied, sighing into her stew. " Think Victor can teach me how to make pancakes?"


	9. The Epiphany Afterwards

"Let's try this again." Victor said slowly, pinching the skin between his brows.

He looked up, taking in the disaster scene that had revolved around the kitchen. "What happened in here?"

Two sheepish heads were bent over the table, one covered with a thick viscous liquid on the face, hair and shirt, while the other was splattered with what looked like a mixture of flour, butter and –

"Blood?" Victor asked incredulously. "Is that blood?!." His voice had changed from hysterical to much more hysterical. "Is that blood on you?! How?!"

Raven and Garfield raises their heads to look at each when Victor mentioned blood, examining carefully.

"Huh." Garfield muttered. "Where is that blood coming from?"

"I'm not bleeding." Raven said, looking herself over, a small bit of flour falling off her face. "Are you bleeding?"

They looked at each other in confusion before their eyes lit up and they turned back to look at Victor.

"Cy, that ain't blood, my man! " Garfield laughed, rolling his eyes in relief. "We wanted to do red pancakes, we put down a lot of dye, so the red came out a little stronger..."

"It was my fault entirely," Raven supplied. "He told me to mix it in the machine, and I went for maximum speed..."

"Which spilt on me- and I was holding the flour and dye to store them away. When the machine started spewing, it landed on me and then I must have been shocked or something, cause..."

"The dye landed on me, and the flour." Raven finished. "But why the butter?"

"Beats me." Garfield shrugged. "It's a mystery..."

"Do I look like I'm here for banter and Nancy Drew?" Victor shrieked, and Raven had to admit, it was kinda funny to see a usually composed and easy-going man crack like that. "What happened to the kitchen?! What happened to Garfield 2?!"

The two of them looked down to see a very unhappy MC Nugget covered in flour and tinged with red dye.

"Oh my poor cat son!" Garfield cooed, scooping the cat in his arms. "It looks like we're having a bath tonight, aren't we? Aren't weeeeee?"

He ended that sentence with a series of incomprehensible baby talk, nonsense noises and scratching behind the cat's ears.

Raven rolled her eyes. " Does he do this often?" Raven asked. "Also is he bathing the cat or bathing WITH the cat?"

"At this point, who knows?" Victor returned with a shake of his head before his eyes narrowed. "Hey, don't try to change the subject like an innocent person being innocent!"

"I can see why you're roommates."

"What I want to know is HOW did this happen?!" Victor yelled. "What happened to simple cooking class? "

Raven sighed, now feeling a flush come over her.

It was embarrassing to admit that she couldn't cook, but to demonstrate how badly she couldn't cook was a catastrophe. Judging by MC Nugget's appearance, the cat part of the word was emphasised.

"I said I was a disaster in the kitchen." She huffed, feeling her defensiveness rise. "And I really just wanted to learn how to make pancakes from you but he insisted on teaching me. The situation escalated."

"This has gone beyond escalation, Raven." Victor snorted in disbelief. "My nana's kitchen is a travesty! It looks like a crime scene happened here!" He walked over to the stove, careful to avoid the puddle of batter that had spilt on the floor. "At least the stove is off," he grumbled. "But that does not explain this." He lifted a plate of what looked like flat briquettes of charcoal that somehow oozed rusty goo all over.

Raven, if possible, flushed deeper.

"Those, Victor Stone, are pancakes." Garfield helpfully informed him.

What could honestly be described as a veil of silence fell on the three of them. Raven didn't say a word, Garfield looked sympathetic and Victor... well. Victor looked incredulously at the pancakes, then back at Raven, who was feeling mullish.

"I'm... not good at pancakes." she muttered quietly. The pancakes seemed to agree, as the highest one sadly started to slide off the top of the heap onto the bottom, making a small gooey squelch.

Victor opened his mouth, and closed it, still in bewilderment. Garfield was starting to notice Raven's embarrassment and decided to help her out.

"Victor, my man." He said cajoling, holding on to MC Nugget. "I'm sure they taste better than they look, and it wouldn't hurt to try one."

Raven decided that if her face was any redder, she could probably remake a pancake on her face, it felt so hot.

She could hear Victor audibly sigh, but to her delight he did in fact try a pancake... and to her dismay, he made a face that suggested that the pancakes tasted exactly how they looked. Garfield looked horrified.

"Vic, come on, you probably weren't being fair..." he said, taking a fork and stabbing a pancake. He looked at Raven and announced, in a terrible French accent only seen in shows where the voice actors had only a faint inkling of what a France was, "Fer you, madame, I vill fer zay short while break my strict vegan diet, just for vous."

He gave her a wink, opened his mouth to take a bite, and then chewed, slowly.

"Huh," was the only thing he managed to get before his eyes widened and he started choking. He spat the chewed up, soggy mess into the sink and turned the faucet in a bid to get more water into his mouth.

Raven shut her eyes to avoid the tell-tale pinpricks that she definitely felt in the corners, scrunching up her face hard to try and push down the embarrassment she definitely felt. "I'm going home now." She growled.

* * *

After copious amounts of cajoling, an offer of dinner, cleaning up the kitchen and a quick shower where she was provided with spare clothes and a bag, Raven sat in the boys' living room, absently towel-drying her hair and feeling absolutely silly and mortified.

Why oh why had she agreed to this? One moment of sentiment when she admitted that she missed home cooked meals and here she was, in someone else's kitchen, disrupting the peace and wearing someone else's clothes.

The clothes were helpfully provided by Garfield, who had cleaned himself up partially in order to search his closet. He had emerged out of the room triumphant and holding a yellow pair of shorts and a thin black t-shirt. The latter proved to be smaller than Raven would have liked, as it had stretched across her chest in a manner that felt obscene. The shorts were drawstring, so that wasn't an issue, though they were clearly meant for a slender frame. The shorts also had a logo stitched at the corner, with a split geode and the words,"Geology Rocks!" Pringle's at the bottom. Judging by the way both pieces of clothing were cut and how old they looked, they probably belonged to an old girlfriend.

It felt very uncomfortable, the idea that she was wearing the remnants of an old relationship. She was probably wearing something that Garfield probably touched a lot, most likely hugged, cuddled, and loved the person who wore it. Who was she? Were they still in contact? Why did Garfield still have the clothes? Did he still miss her?

Not that she was concerned or anything, she was just curious about a new friend. She would have done the same for Kori or Dick.

And Garfield certainly... treated her like a friend. Nothing more.

Well he did flirt with her and tried to make her laugh. Earlier, when she had arrived, he had demonstrated how to make a pancake, using some ingredients he had prepared earlier, and then for some reason had taken the wrapped stick of butter and pretended to wave it all around her. When she, confused, asked him what he was up to, he had said that it was him trying to, "butter her up" and make her like cooking better. She had rolled her eyes then because of how horrible the jokes were.

But she couldn't deny there was some sort of genius there. And when they weren't making a mess of the kitchen, he was actually a pretty good teacher.

Well that wasn't true, as the pancake briquettes proved. But he was better than she had expected.

Now, she wasn't sure if he was willing to teach her how to cook again.

"Well, you clean up nice, little lady." Victor said, holding a towel in his hands while walking into the living room. "I think you look much better without flour on your shirt."

Raven smiled weakly. "Garfield..." She began.

"He's in the bathroom, taking a shower and the cat's in there so he can wash him too." Victor jerked his head towards the bathroom. Judging by the sounds of low yowling and high pitched screams, the cat was being bathed now. "Ah well, it was bound to happen." Victor shook a rueful head. "At least the kitchen looks nice again." He said, waving a hand towards the now cleaner kitchen, pancakes briquettes thrown away and all the other ingredients cleaned up and up away, the kitchen wiped down for a temporary clean before Victor started on dinner. "I'll warn you though: I use a hella load of meat in my cooking. It'll shock the normal omnivore."

"I've seen plenty of things in my lifetime." Raven replied, "I think I'll die happy."

The resulting deep laugh as Victor opened the fridge to gather the ingredients helped release some of the tension Raven didn't realise she was holding in her shoulders and they spent the next few minutes making conversation. Raven offered to help Victor prep and the man had a quick look of terror in his eyes before it was replaced by an enthusiastic, "You're our guest! Just stay there and watch me!"

She decided not to press the issue but insisted on helping set the table, something Victor was fine with. While doing so, the both of them engaged in conversation, and she learnt that Victor had met Garfield when the man was assigned a roommate in Uni, a twerpy little kid who chattered a mile a minute and annoyed the shit out of Victor for the first few weeks of school.

"So I went down to complain about this guy, cause who the hell is that annoying and leaves food containers all over the floor?" Victor declared, taking the meat out of the marination container and placing them in the hot frying pan. "And in housing, there he was: a little shrimpy dude with green streaks who was complaining about his roommate being a shit as well. The person in charge wasn't having it, told us both to switch roommates, and thus Grass Stain became my roommate, and then my Best bro!"

Raven was fascinated, but tried her best to look nonchalant and imperious. "Garfield had green hair?" she asked, detachedly. She could imagine him with green hair, unruly and wilder than now.

" Yeap." Victor concurred, now sautéing vegetables in a separate, bigger pan. "The little dude was so into nature at that point. Wore tie dyed shirts, was into composting... the whole shebang. That's why his nickname was Grass Stain, for awhile. He used this really cheap, natural green dye but it left streaks everywhere." Victor shook his head ruefully. "We still don't know how we lasted so long as friends the way we did but maaaaaaaaaaaaan." Raven nodded as Victor rattled on. It was nice to hear Victor talk and a good way to know more about their lives.

She learnt a lot from the conversation. Like the fact that Garfield and Victor had never missed a day of talking to each other, even when they were miles apart or in different countries. She learnt that they were currently staying in the flat that Victor's grandparents originally stayed in before they moved away to a place 5 minutes away from the bodega due to better accessibility, and Victor took over the apartment, though he still referred to it as his grandparents' place. She'd learnt that Victor's grandparents loved Garfield, and he often came over to Victor's place when school was on break.

That part was a little strange to Raven, but before she could ask, Garfield had emerged from the bathroom, holding a clean and very floofy cat. Clearly the hair dryer had been used.

"There you go, baby boy!" He announced cheerfully, as the cat was placed gently on the floor. The man still hadn't taken a shower, and his arms were sporting scratches from being mauled by MC Nugget. The cat in question had the look of being on edge while still being complacent.

He turned to look at Raven and Victor, grinning profusely. "Being a father is so hard in this day and age!" He gushed.

"I can't imagine." Raven said, as drily as she could.

Garfield grinned before he disappeared again towards the bathroom.

"Shouldn't he... check on his wounds first?" Raven asked.

" He'll be fine." Victor said lightly. "Sometimes he forgets and then he takes a shower and everything stings. It's a good reminder for him."

A few shrieks could be heard from the bathroom, an indicator that Garfield had been duly reminded.

" Also it's pretty funny to hear him scream like that." Victor admitted.

Raven rolled her eyes. Men.

* * *

Clean, but still smarting from the cuts, Garfield wandered out of the bathroom, towel drying his hair, and towards the kitchen, where Victor was currently serving up the food and Raven was carrying it to the table.

" Sweet, food's up!" Gar cheered, his eyes lighting up as he saw the food on the table. "You even made me stir fry!"

"Well, it was just sitting there, and I couldn't let my little buddy starve, could I?" Victor teased. " You're already pretty short and teensy, you need to eat so that you'd even stand a chance in this cold unfeeling world."

Garfield gasped, a sharp intake of breath in outrage at this new accusation thrown against him. " I am full-grown, thank you very much, and all man!"

Victor snorted, and gave Garfield two servings of the vegetable stir-fry. Garfield fumed quietly but only for a little while as he grew interested in the dinner conversation.

He watched as Raven piled food on her plate, at first taking small portions, and chewing on them tentatively. Her eyes then widened by a fraction of an inch and she started eating with more vigour, while still trying to act like she didn't care what she was eating. Garfield had to bite hard on his lip for that to stop himself from laughing out loud,she looked rather cute.

Annnnnnd he had to mentally slap himself again. That weird heart squeezing thing he was feeling where he wanted to squish her cheeks was happening again. Which was a HUGE no no. Someone's girl, remember?

He settled for dinner conversation instead, bantering lightly with Victor as he threatened to put some pork chop strips into the stir fry, and then taking part in a knife fight that somehow started happening. Raven had rolled her eyes, but she didn't leave, or seemed too bothered. She was just there eating quietly, and Garfield could have sworn up and down that she had a hint of a smile on her lips, but he couldn't prove that.

All in all, it was a standard dinner, but the addition of Raven made it somewhat special. After the three of them finished dinner, Victor made a move to start clearing the plates along with Garfield but Raven had abruptly stood up and shot Victor a stony glare. "Sit down." She said in a steely tone. "You made a great dinner, and you refused to let me help then. Let me help now."

The absolute resolution in her voice was so strong that Victor, who stood a head taller than the petite and tinier Raven, sat down immediately. Garfield grinned, trying his best to hide the fact that he was somehow inching his way out of the chair towards the living room set.

No such luck. A steely hand gripped his shoulder and gave the blonde man such a shock that a noise _NOT LIKE A SQUEAL OR A SHRIEK THANK YOU VERY MUCHOS HE WAS A MACHO MAN NOT A SQUEAK TOY_ came out.

"Hey, you didn't do any cooking here." Raven said, steely eyed. "You're staying."

Garfield gulped, and Victor gruffawed.

He needn't have worried though. Raven, though a terror in the kitchen with her baking skills, was actually a great help with the washing up. As Garfield helped put the leftovers into a plastic container, Raven had put the plates into the sinks and had started running water all over them, giving them a good rinse before soaping them over with dishwashing liquid and a sponge.

" You know, really, Vic and I can clean up-" Gar said somewhat self consciously.

"The both of you have been very kind to me today." Raven said, and damn, if Garfield wasn't surprised before, he was now. "You tried to teach me to cook and it was an unmitigated catastrophe of epic proportions. Victor had to clean up the mess I made and then made dinner for us, and refused any help from me to apologise. This is the way to pay you guys back."

Garfield frowned. "Well you don't actually have to pay us back, you know." He said slowly. "This isn't a you pay what you do situation. We're friends, and you shouldn't have to pay us back right away."

"But I ruined the kitchen." Raven bit back. "And I made horrible food that you ate for some reason. If I cleaned the kitchen now, I would have less to clean up than when the two of you inevitably die from eating the pancakes."

Garfield started laughing at the ludicrousness of her reasoning but upon seeing that Raven had tensed up because of the laughing, tried to turn it into a hacking cough. "Aw come on, Rae-rae!" He said, trying lighten up the mood. "It's only property damage, and I promise that since Vic's body is so jacked up he's probably half robot, so his stomach's probably destroyed any evidence of the pancakes in the first place. And, not to boast," said the clearly boasting Garfield, waggling his eyebrows. "I eat like an animal. I think the worst thing I've ever had was a gas station egg salad sandwich, which by the way is partly the reason why I went from vegetarian to strict vegan. Your pancakes, while not vegan, was still better than that sandwich."

Raven had paused in the dish washing to raise an eyebrow at him. "You ate an egg salad sandwich from the gas station?" She asked, not looking impressed.

"I'm a dangerous man, girl." Garfield fake-growled, leaning over his side to make his point. "I ride high on mayhem. I sometimes take the thumb drive out without properly ejecting it from the computer and I eat the unappetizing room temperature egg salad sandwiches at gas stations. My dangerous life knows no bounds."

Raven snorted, which she then hastily turned into a cough, but Garfield knew he got her. He then realised that he and her were standing pretty close to each other, probably somewhat intruding Raven's personal space, but before he could properly step away from her, Raven had looked up and locked eyes with Garfield.

Damn she really did have nice eyes. The dark stuff she usually had around her eyes was not there, probably washed off from her shower, but she still had some smudges around the corners of her lids. He wondered if he ran a finger across her eyes if the black would show and if she would let probably let Dick do it. Asshole.

She still looked cute but less threatening, and he liked the fact that she looked more relaxed, wearing a t-shirt and shorts. Admittedly yellow wasn't her colour but the combination of clothes made her look lighter and her still drying hair made her look less put together than before. She really was very very very cute.

She was also saying something and looking very very very annoyed, but he wasn't paying attention, and before he realised what she was doing, she had raised her elbow and with a sharp jab, got him right in the stomach.

That blow to his solar plexis had took him by surprised and he doubled over, clutching the stomach that had earlier not been jabbed. "Why," was the only sound he managed to wheeze out.

"You were staring like a loon again," Raven replied. "Get your house in order."

Garfield felt that his pain was being belittled here, so he milked his performance a little more, pretending to collapse on the floor while making terrible choking noises.

"Hey Raven!" Came a yell from the living room. "Is Garfield dying in there?"

"Unfortunately." Raven replied, drying a dish with a dish towel.

"Tell him not to do it on the floor, we just cleaned it." Was the reply as Vic turned his attention back to the television.

"None of you love me." Garfield muttered from the floor as a wandering MC Nugget walked past him straight to his food bowl.

"You'll need someone special for that." Raven snarkily replied, reaching into the sink for another dish. "I don't think they have the training for it."

* * *

All in all though, Raven had to admit, it was nice at the boys' apartment. She missed the companionship.

Kori had sent her a few messages to catch up and so far despite the fact that Raven wouldn't admit it, she had replied to every single one. She really missed Kori. Kori was the closest thing she had to a sister and while Dick was cool, he was, well...Dick.

The guys here though. Victor and Garfield were currently fighting over the video console, some sort of PS4 game apparently, and Raven had went to her bag, taken out a book, and started reading.

She didn't get much done, to be honest. She was so used to absolute silence in her reading the last few weeks that the constant chatter and the electronic beeping kept seeping in but it didn't matter: the company wasn't annoying her as much as it would. She hated to admit it but it was goddamn lonely in the apartment after work when Kori wasn't around.

Garfield must have noticed that she had started reading a book because the beeping noises stopped, and Victor was now unceremoniously squawking his protests at the suddenly paused game.

"Hey, didn't mean to bore you," Garfield began, and Raven looked up from her book. "We got pretty caught up in our high scores and we forgot that you were here as well-"

"Don't be," Raven said curtly. She had realised just that that she was probably intruding on the boys' personal time and had stood up, clutching the book to her chest. "I have to go anyway, I'm sorry again for destroying your kitchen-"

"Why not try again?" Garfield blurted out and Raven looked at him, shocked but very good at pretending she wasn't. "Come over again. I'll teach you."

"That won't be necessary." Raven said, trying to hide the hurt she felt. Damn it, she did not need these people being so dang polite and trying to be so nice that they were willing to let her in their kitchen again. She did not need their dang pity. She tried to brush past Garfield, in a bid to avoid his gaze. "You've learnt your lesson. I cannot be taught-"

"Damnit woman!" Garfield groaned. "You're not bothering me or Victor if you want to learn how to cook. I mean I'm basically the breadwinner of the family while Victor tends the household-"

"Screw you, man. I build amazing cars from old parts and resell them at three times the prices. If anyone's the provider in this relationship, it's me." Victor yelled back, folding his arms mullishly.

"But we're not too busy to help you." Garfield finished. "Also, we're not doing this to be polite or nice. We actually like you. As a Friend. And you gotta get used to that. Stop thinking we're just strangers. You said yourself that we were friends. Friends aren't calculating or expect a favour to be done for a favour. Get used to that from us."

Raven, who had honestly never had that much straightforwardness put across to her, was feeling somewhat abashed. Garfield, despite his goofiness and rather weird sense of humour, had seemed rather eager to make sure she had gotten that point and she was now feeling silly. Sure, she did need time to get used to people but Garfield had been more than nice to her. He had gone above and beyond. So had Victor for that matter. They must have genuinely thought of her as a friend. But before she could apologise, her phone started buzzing.

Raven walked to the bag where her phone was and opened up the bag, locating her phone immediately. It was Dick, calling her. She turned over to give Garfield an apologetic look and picked up the phone.

"You home?" Dick asked as a way of greeting. "I got off earlier than expected, we need to talk about the next place to hit tomorrow."

Raven hesitated before she replied. " I'm at Victor's and Garfield's-"

"At the bodega?" Dick asked, and damnit she knew Dick was a busybody, she would never hear the end of it.

"Yes. Come get me." She said curtly and hung up before Dick could reply. She turned back to Garfield, who had heard the conversation and was now looking away from her. Raven had to stifle a groan. Great, she must have seemed eager to get away from here, and she really did want to make a good impression.

" I ..." She began but closed her mouth. She had no idea what to say next. "My ride's coming." She said instead.

"I heard." Garfield replied.

She winced internally, she could practically feel the spikiness from his voice. She did feel terrible for her behaviour, and so she tried again.

"I would like. That is." What was her brain doing to her mouth right now? Why was she speaking so inarticulately? She used to write 5000-word dissertations for school and now she was speaking like she had no idea what words were. "I would like to try again." She said, quietly. "I was wrong, and you were a decent teacher. And once again, we are. Friends, that is."

Raven was pretty sure that a little part of her brain had decided to crawl and die from the embarrassment, and decided that she was going to spend the rest of the night eating ice cream and petting Azar to curb her shame.

"Did... did you say you were wrong?" Garfield raised a trembling finger towards her, his eyes now big and watery. "Vicky! Vicky baby!" He bellowed back. "Did you hear what Raven just said? She said that she was wrong about something! She said I was a decent teacher!"

Victor yelled something back but Raven's face was red with abashment.

Scratch the plan, she was going to hide in her room, eat two pints of ice cream, summon a demon to see if she could get them to reverse time, then pet Azar. This was way too embarrassing.

"I'm going home now." She growled, grabbed her bag, and making a dash for the door.

"Hey hey, settle, Rae-Rae," laughed Garfield, wiping a tear from his eye. Damn that bastard, he was SMILING.

"RAVEN." She growled back.

"All is forgiven, Rae-Rae!" He sang back, "And I promise you I will be the best teacher that I can be, young grasshopper. Nah, not grasshopper. Sugarplum? Desert Flower? Cactus Child?"

"If you keep calling me silly names you'll be baked in a pie and served to the people at the bookshop." She spat out.

"Nuh-uh!" Garfield shot back, laughingly. "We're friends now. Nobody says stuff like that about friends. We're gonna be best buddies, after this."

And Raven knew, with a sinking feeling in her heart, that it was probably gonna be true. She sighed. "Damn my life choices." She muttered.

Well. She could do a lot worse, friends wise. Even with friends that were annoyingly intrusive, goofy looking, cute, fluffy haired after a shower and had the nicest crooked grin that lit up his face and made him look a little like a mischievous troublemaker…

 _Damn her life choices. Damn them to hell!_


	10. The Built Up Month Gone By

The next month flew by in a blur. If you had asked the young vet at the Jump City Animal Shelter how he was doing, he would have given you an easy grin, a thumbs up, all while leaving you a pamphlet on the importance of spaying and neutering pets. You had to admire the man, he was dedicated to his job.

If you had asked the owner of the Nevermore Book Nook how she was doing, she would have given you a begrudging nod, and the both of you would have stood in awkward silence that didn't go anywhere and would have made things worse until you decide to break the tension and run off silently weeping about how you really couldn't impress anyone.

If you had asked the Boyfriend of the roommate of the Nevermore Book Nook's owner, however...

"Richard J Grayson, for God's sake, you're a 30 year old man, what are you wearing?" Raven stated flatly as she arrived home a few days after her first cooking lesson to find the man wearing what seemed to be a giant fuzzy cocoon. It had red and purple pom poms and patterned orange and purple all over.

The man squeaked, which was something rather hilarious in itself, and tried to take the sweater off, but it was too late. Raven had, unfortunately, recognised the handiwork of the sweater that her roommate had decided to do up for a video for her YouTube channel awhile ago.

"... I'm not gonna ask any more questions, Dick." Raven said slowly, "Just take the sweater off, and we'll go have dinner, okay?"

The man nodded dumbly as he tugged the sweater off his shoulders, his hair a little droopy. That, and the sweater he was wearing, made it evident that he was really missing Kori. The two of them had never really been apart for more than a month before, so this must have been killing him.

"This is pasta." She had said simply, opening up a Tupperware box, placing it in front of Dick. "Eat up." She ordered as she went to open up a can of wet cat food for Azar's dinner.

Dick did as he was told, as many were wont to do when Raven Roth told them to do something, despite the fact that she could clearly see him hesitating. He had been on the receiving end of many a Kori food creation in the past, and as such was known to eat many things put in front of him with minimal fuss or questions, but also the subject of many food poisonings. It was ...rather pathetic really. But Dick was made of sterner stuff, and his guardian had once made him take a course on creating pills and homemade antidotes against common poisons.

It was said before, but it had to be said again: Dick Grayson had a very eclectic home education.

Dick paused mid-chew. "This... is good." He said, and Raven was simultaneously proud and hurt at the response. "Did you make this?"

Raven reached down to pick up Azar's dish bowl, giving it a quick rinse and soap to prep for the day's dinner. Azar, used to the cleaning, took the opportunity to stroll into the kitchen, meowing pleadingly for food. "Just the sauce." She admitted, "I burnt the pasta."

Dick raised an eyebrow. "You can do that?" He asked, questioningly.

"Yes." She said bluntly, giving the bowl a quick wipe down before placing it down on the floor,wishing that Dick would be a good friend and shut up now.

He didn't. "So did..."

"Yes. " Raven bit out, as she ripped open the pull tab of the canned cat food with a vengeance that even she didn't really expect. "Garfield helped."

The only positive happening from the conversation was the fact that Dick was smiling now. The beginning of cons, Raven predicted with a wave of exasperation, was that Dick was smiling now.

"Ohhhhhh spending more time at Garfield's and making good pasta, huh?" A small smirk curved his lips, reaching his eyes which crinkled.

"Quit it." She said shortly as she dumped the can of pink sludge onto Azar's food bowl. The cat, who had been nuzzling up against her ankle as she did so, turned around to ignore Raven as she started licking and then eating the wet food. Azar always ate like there was no tomorrow. Raven had wondered if this had anything to do with her being on the streets and not having enough food before reaching the shelter and she then shook her head, realising that she for some reason was imagining her cat having a Dickensian lifestyle.

"It sounds like you might really have a thing for him."

"Shut up."

"In fact, judging from what you said-"

Raven slapped him on the back of his head, and the man let out a dignified oof of pain.

He was right though. Raven had, very very very unfortunately, told him that she might have had a problem.

Not that she remembered telling him. According to Dick, and the voice recordings did corroborate with his statement, she had admitted that she thought Garfield Logan was, of all things, cute.

Of course she had admitted it when they were both on their bloody recon at a bar. Of course. Fucking life choices.

"Any more mention of me having possible feelings for my cat's veterinarian, which was done UNDER DURESS, should not be admitted into evidence, Richard J Grayson." She growled. "I cannot be trusted when I'm drunk, that's what the recon's for."

Dick laughed in response. She knew he wouldn't fear her anymore. Damn friendship and the way it made people like each other to the point when vague empty threats didn't make them tremble in fear. Maybe she should throw Azar at his face, get her to claw it up a little. Azar had decided really early on that she did not like Dick and had scratched him up once or twice when he had tried to pet her. Of course, on the first time they had met he had stupidly gone to pet the fluffy tummy fur, so as Raven had watched Dick scream in pain when Azar bit his hand, she had agreed silently that he had deserved that.

It didn't make sense. The day after the first cooking session, Dick and Raven were at a bar, conducting the usual experiment when apparently, drunk Raven had happily admitted to Dick that she had a thing for someone. According to Dick, Drunk Happy Raven had then proceeded to wax lyrical on the vet's many features, from his jawline to his hair and even his ears. Then, Drunk Sad Raven had proceeded to start sobbing because their love was as doomed as the Titanic and the iceberg because that ship literally sank and before Dick was able to comfort her in her time of crisis, she had then slapped Dick on the back of his head because he was not reacting right when she was upset and crying. If it were not for the fact that Raven had seen the voice and video recordings , she wouldn't have believed it.

Drunk Raven had some issues, Raven thought. Though she did approve of smacking Dick up the back of his head, she'll buy herself cheesecake for that.

"I'll be honest," Dick mumbled, eating another forkful of pasta. "I think he likes you too."

"Don't be ridiculous," Raven said dismissively, as a vibration indicated that her phone was buzzing. Taking her phone out of her pocket, she flicked the screen to check her notifications.

Speak of the devil. Before she was able to read the message, her phone was plucked out of her hands by a grinning Dick, who had quietly dropped his fork, moved from his chair to where Raven was standing in a matter of seconds. The man's skills at pickpocketing was honestly bested by no other.

(Had to be emphasised: extremely eclectic home education. Bruce Wayne was an eccentric billionaire who taught his ward amazing things, and still managed to get him through to Yale. Raven sometimes wanted to curse at them both for their extreme privilege and lifestyle.)

" 'Hope you got back okay, tell me how the pasta's like' " Dick read out, face splitting grin indicating that this to him was the happiest moment of his day. "He's worried about your welfare!"

"As any decent person would walking home in an urban city in the evenings." Raven said evenly, the top of her ears not going pink as they were wont to do during an embarrassing fact revealed about her.

"Hey, I'll be the first to admit it," Dick said lightly " I like this guy, and if you really like him, I think you two will be good together. Except well, if he breaks your heart I can always cut it out for you."

And he could do it too, Raven once saw him carve out a pig when he went undercover as a butcher to expose the meat industry who were substituting good pork with generic pigs fed with hormones.

Eclectic home education.

" Thank you." Raven said drily, though a little touched.

" Also Kori could beat the shit out of him, she's getting real good at MMA now," Dick grinned. " She could pin me down in less than 2 minutes in the ring-"

" No mention of anyone pinning anyone down," Raven blurted out quickly. She had once walked in on the both of them during an MMA session and she had gotten a good look of Dick with one hand under Kori's sports bra as they made out on the mat, which she had then proceeded to try and drive out of her mind with a combination of meditation, prayer sessions with sage and incense to get rid of the bad vibes, and symphonic metal. "No more!"

Dick smiled but then his face dropped the smile just as quickly, and Raven, unfortunately, saw the tell-tale sign of Dick Grayson moping around for Kori Anders again. She sighed.

So admittedly it was pity that led her to invite Dick to stay in the apartment in Kori's room, with Kori's permission of course. Because the man, despite his stoicism and rather strange obsession with crime and MMA and gelled hair, and his obsession with seeing Raven embarrassed and crushing on her vet, was a sentimental fool who missed his girlfriend and evidently his slick apartment in the city was too lonely and cold for him.

Besides it was helpful to have someone around the house to try the leftovers she took home from hanging around Victor and Garfield's place, and for someone to give Azar attention when she was away for cooking lessons, even if the cat didn't like the other man. And it was good for the sessions of recon for someone to take her home and monitor her behaviour. She could live with that.

* * *

Garfield was not a happy man, for a very good reason.

" Man, you moping?" Victor demanded, walking in the door to find Garfield lying upside down, legs hanging over the back of the couch, head lying off the couch seat. " You gotta quit that shit, BB, green ain't a good look on ya."

Garfield, who didn't wear green hair (anymore), glared at his best friend. "Green is my colour, how dare you." He retorted, but there was none of the fire, no will in trying to fight back.

Victor, the bastard, only laughed at him.

"Is this about Raven again?" Victor asked, opening up the fridge door to take out a bottle of milk.

In the last few cooking sessions, which was going on for the last month, three times a week, Raven was progressing very well, cooking wise. Sure she might have accidentally burnt the pasta and melted the cup of sugar in the microwave, but she was definitely improving, proving her skill was less in solid food and more in liquids like soup, gravy, and sauces. Raven was strangely adept in making things taste good provided you gave her the right impetus.

 _"It's like potions," Raven had said_ drily _. "I can stir these, practice making liquid poisons. Learn to make cyanide at some point, and put it in almond cookies. You'll never figure it out."_

Garfield's laughter only died when Raven did not seem to be laughing alongside him. It was only later when he realised this was her version of a joke. Still, he had decided to stay away from anything almond related for a while.

Once he got her sense of humour, he was beginning to like her more and more, and what she lacked in cooking she made up for it in listening and learning, and the last few lessons were getting better and better.

 _"So we only burnt 2/3s of the cookies this time," said a relieved Garfield, who was just grateful the kitchen didn't burn down and everyone else in the room was safe. He brushed MC Nugget away, who was trying his best to sniff the cookies that were caught in the disaster._

 _Raven, who was currently staring at the last batch of cookies that didn't look burnt with suspicion and frustration. "I can't do this." She declared._

 _"Hey hey!" Garfield tittered. "None of that quitter talk! These cookies," (he was waving at the 5 cookies that had somehow survived the fire, now on the cooling rack.) "aren't on fire so it stands to reason that they might be stronger cookies!"_

 _Raven's only reaction was a scoff, so Garfield took a bite out of one cookie to prove a point._

 _"See? Tastes normal!" He grinned._

 _Raven eyed him suspiciously, and about to retort before Garfield shoved the half eaten cookie in her open mouth._

 _Raven reluctantly bit down on the cookie and chewed. She paused and threw an accusatory look at Garfield. "You cheated." She said._

 _"What?!" Garfield's eyes widened._

 _"You must have... switched the cookie batter or something." She said. "This tastes-"_

 _"_ Normal. _" Garfield said. "They're a bit dry, probably due to the fire, but they're okay. "_

 _Raven stares at him in disbelief._

 _"They aren't the best, but they're okay." Garfield grinned. "Raven, we might make a cook out of you yet!"_

 _"Whatever," Raven rolled her eyes and Garfield pretended that he didn't see her smiling just a little._

"I mean, squirt," Victor was still talking, and Garfield faintly realised that Victor had been talking the entire time. Whoops. "You like this girl, I get it. Feelings and all. But you were the one who told me that you didn't want to be messin' with someone's girl. This attitude ain't helping."

Garfield grumbled something that sounded like a swear word but Victor ignored him. That was okay. Garfield could ignore him right back. Hah! Take that, ridiculously tall Friend! Vengeance was his. But that meant that he couldn't ignore his thoughts and the fact that Victor had nailed the nail right in the shed. (Was that even the phrase? Garfield didn't go to school to become an English man. He shouldn't have to know all the proper words.)

The fact of the matter was that Raven was a happily attached... was that even the right phrase? Happily? Did Raven even swing that way? Could she feel more than two feelings at once? Fuck, Garfield didn't realise he could do that and now he was at the receiving end of two feelings at once. This was doing his head in a little.

No, he was not happy. For a good reason. His head was doing weird complicated things to his heart whenever he spent time with Raven Roth and he wanted them to stop conspiring to give him a heart attack cause Raven had a boyfriend and they were so seriously in love that they were rooming together. And Garfield had only found that out when he had dropped Raven off after walking her home earlier that day...

 _"You're joking." Raven's sardonic voice didn't manage to hide the small smile she had on her lips. They were strolling back to Raven's apartment after a cooking lesson, Raven holding a flask full of tomato soup that she had made from scratch._

 _"Fo'real gurl!" Garfield gestured, with all the grace of a lanky herd animal. He_ _was being charming which he did with anyone, do not judge him, "I have a magical gift, and it's the ability to talk to the animals!"_

 _"Are you seriously claiming you have the same powers as a Disney princess?" Raven snarked back. "I don't think you have the figure for a ball gown."_

 _"Speak for yourself!" Garfield laughed. "At a very old Halloween party a few years ago, Victor bet me 30 dollars that I wouldn't be able to pull off a gown and I showed him! Wait, I have pictures-" he said, shuffling through his phone to find the photos on his Facebook account, and producing them with a flourish, letting Raven scroll through a photo album_ _labeled, " 2016 Halloweenies"._

 _He looked, dare he say it, gorgeous._

 _"You looked absolutely ridiculous." Raven drolled._

 _Garfield gasped audibly. He had never been so insulted and continued to make shocked, gaspy noises that denoted how horrified he was._

 _Raven merely rolled her eyes._

 _" You're an idiot." She said._

 _" A beautiful one!" he shot back, cocking a hip sassily. He had learned the pose from a friend of his who taught him how to sashay in heels and had convinced him that it made him look gorgeous especially when wearing the dress. And it did help him pull off the gown, even Victor had conceded on that point and had thrown in another ten bucks._

 _"This is the best you've ever looked, admittedly," Raven mused, and fuck did this woman just make fun of him damnit how much more amazing can she get maybe he'll run away with her one day to get coffee at their favourite bistro yes it was their_ _favourite one now, nevermind the fact that they had only been there once-_

 _"I'm a good looking man," Garfield had replied, and she had snorted but_ _damnit, she was smiling in that little Raven smile she rarely gave him._

 _They had both reached the building where Raven's bookstore was at, and Garfield had pretended to ooh and ahh over Raven's short explanation that this was her bookstore, and that she lived in the apartment upstairs. She didn't need to know that he had been there before a few times, cause that would have seemed like Creepy Behaviour and he was not a stalker,_ _damnit._

 _"Do you want to see Azar?" Raven had asked hesitantly. "It'll be good for her to get used to you since you're her vet and all."_

 _" Is this just you wanting confirmation on my animal communication skills?" he'd teased. "If you really wanted a demonstration, you should just see me and my baby boy-"_

 _" You and your, 'baby boy' are having some sort of incestuous relationship and he doesn't know any better since you're the one raising him." Raven snarked. "If you really talk to animals-"_

 _" I'm a lovable Dr. Doolittle, honey," he mock-growled._

 _"Then you should be fine. Come and say hi."_

 _And he_ _did cause_ damnit, _he loved animals, and Azar was a good, if really quiet, kitty. It would be nice to see her outside of the shelter where she didn't get poked and prodded and harassed by the sounds and smells. Besides, and he didn't want to admit this, he really wanted to see Raven's place._

 _They had trudged up the stairs and Raven had unlocked the door, flicking the lights on and getting greeted by a small ball of black fur. Garfield had immediately gone down on his knees to say hi and offer his hand, Azar had stiffened and used her nose to delicately sniff him, before she decided that she had remembered him and gone forth to bump her head against his proffered hand, purring as she did so. Garfield grinned and picked her up, to which Azar had no objections to, and was, in fact, nuzzling his face. He crowed about his prowess. Raven had rolled her eyes but let him. That was a win to him._

 _In fact, he and Raven were having a great time. Azar had let him carry her and he shifted the cat in his arms so she felt more comfortable, which led the cat to start purring like a car. He had then complimented on her bookshelves that went from the floor to the ceiling, stuffed full of hardcovers and slim volumes of poetry, and crystals arranged on the shelves. It was unexpected and yet so Raven. No photos were available around the apartment, and Garfield knew that Raven and her roommate were living together but still had no idea what the roommate looked like. Which was actually making him feel kind of guilty, really, but Raven herself was so full of mystery that it had made sense just talking to her and not about the roommate. He was pretty sure that_ **starfirekori** _on Instagram was her Best Friend, but where was she? That had made no sense..._

 _"I've got orange soda, you okay with that?" Raven asked and his attention was drawn back to the woman currently opening the fridge and holding out a can of said soda. And everyone knew he didn't say no to soda. It was the best of the sodas. He had grinned, accepted the soda, and he was pretty sure he said something corny cause Raven had rolled her eyes but then she excused herself to go to the bathroom and asked Garfield to make himself feel comfortable. And that was what he was planning to do, all while cuddling a black cat that loved him cause all animals did, and drinking a can of orange soda._

 _He looked around the room and somehow or other, he really loved how strangely homey it was. Raven clearly didn't like sunlight, judging by the blackout curtains she had installed in the living room but her living room was anything but gloomy. Sure there was the odd knickknack that hinted towards a darker nature, but for the most part, Raven had cushions. He didn't know if witches liked cushions, but Raven did, and he couldn't fault against someone who liked plush goodness. Her couch was comfortable, and as he sat back against it, he could already imagine falling asleep on the couch clutching one of the cushions and it had made him feel even more comfortable. He wasn't bothered by the numerous books, cause it gave the home a very lived in air, and the television was not the most high tech but Raven still had Netflix, apparently. The wooden floors were clean, and someone, probably not Raven, had added a rug made out of clashing colours of green, orange, purple, blue and red on the floor. There was no coffee table. Garfield spied two yoga mats at the corner of the living room and concluded they belonged to Raven and her roommate._

 _"You don't have many shows here, how is that?!" Garfield called out to Raven as he heard her walk back to the living room, her feet padding light against the wooden floor. " In fact," he continued as he scrolled through her Netflix with a sense of rising dread and horror. "You don't have anything on your list!"_

 _Raven tilted her head in curiosity, with no outward expression on her face. " I don't need to, though?" she queried. She looked a little askance. " I honestly don't watch that much Netflix…"_

 _" Come on, you can totally tell someone's personality through their Netflix choices!" he said, and it was this that led him to spend an hour on Raven's couch, fighting over the choices to add to her list of shows that she had to watch on Netflix. Raven rolled her eyes so far back that Garfield nearly thought she was going to go blind, but she had let him add a few shows on her Netflix account, stopping him only a few times to make sure he didn't have a chance to add trashy reality tv shows on her queue. ("BUT SAY YES TO THE DRESS!" "Don't make me hit you.")_

 _In_ fact, _they were having such a great time, that Garfield was beginning to relax and lean back against the couch, curled on his side in such a way that he managed to see both the television and Raven on the other side of the couch. She was pretending not to be interested in the cartoon he had picked but was failing miserably because he could see her getting more invested in the plotlines as it went on. When one of the characters got into trouble, Raven had made a sound of protest._

 _"That can't happen to Butterbean!" she had yelled. "Butterbean is pure of soul and —"_

 _She caught Garfield grinning at her across the couch and she closed her mouth abruptly, looking so pouty that Garfield thought she looked adorable._

 _" Shut it," she warned him, her eyes glaring angrily._

 _" Make me." He shot back. His phone was out of his pocket and on his hand and before Raven could stop him, he had quickly snapped a picture of Raven and the television. The woman's eyes widened and before Garfield could react, she had shot across the couch, disarmed Garfield and making him drop his phone with a yelp, and pinned the man down, with a knee in his stomach that was really digging into his intestines-_

 _Damn, she has beautiful eyes, he couldn't help but wonder._

 _And it was then that reality bit him in the ass as the sound of the door opening revealed Dick Grayson in his signature trenchcoat. He raised an eyebrow behind dark sunglasses as he took in the scene before him._

 _Oh._

 _Oh…_

 _That didn't look good._

 _Luckily Dick didn't look suspicious about what was happening, thank the fuck for obliviousness, he really was kinda dumb, why was Raven even with him? He had to distract himself from those thoughts by stammering excuses and making a quick dash for the door, running all the way back home, and decided to huffily huff his way on the couch, lying upside down to try and get the blood into his head to think better. He liked Raven. As a friend. As a friend, good friend, someone who meant nothing to him._

 _Though of course maybe his view of the situation had long been tainted... he couldn't exactly deny it. Spending time watching Netflix and cooking with her had been so domestic that it felt practically second nature. Her pinning him down to disarm him and drop his phone was almost playful even though she had done it with gritted teeth and she was really pretty good, where the hell did she learn to do that and would she be willing to do that to him again FUCK IT LOGAN SHE'S A MARRIED WOMAN WELL NOT MARRIED BUT STILL-_

"Hey little dude," Victor's voice finally managed to penetrate the mental breakdown Garfield had been going through. "You've been quiet for 5 whole minutes. Not like you."

Garfield looked back at Victor and his eyes must have betrayed something because Victor's own eyes softened, and he reached over to try and grab Garfield in a hug.

This however did end in chaos as Garfield was still lying upside down on the couch so Victor had made the mistake of stretching his arms around Garfield's waist and nearly made facial contact near Garfield's genitals. Garfield who did not like any surprising contact of face to genital in general, squawked and accidentally kneed Victor on the chin. Victor, yelling in pain, flailed and somehow managed to hit Garfield in the groin.

The two of them did manage to get their buddy hug after the chaos was over. And Garfield did appreciate the support from his friend, even if he did try to hug his crotch.

* * *

Dick Grayson, that absolute fucker, was still fucking laughing.

"You were totally going to kiss him if I didn't walk in, weren't you!" He gasped, voice shaky from laughing too hard.

Raven glared at him from the couch.

"Shut up," was all she could muster. "He has blackmail material. I was merely stopping him."

The bastard only continued laughing. That asshole.

She was more concerned about why Garfield had hightailed himself out of the apartment, looking flustered and eager to get out of there. Hopefully he was okay, and she wasn't sure if she had done something to offend him.

Or maybe he was making a run out of there because he felt very uncomfortable at the possibility of a romance between them?

Somehow that had hurt her more than it should have. She thought they were getting along and despite herself she really did like him. But then again, it made sense. He wasn't interested in goth girls who liked books and judged him all the time. He probably liked girls like himself: bubbly, cool, sun loving. It hurt a lot, to be honest. But she couldn't begrudge him for his tastes.

This was something she probably had to get over by herself. She liked learning how to cook, and she valued their friendship. She would rather smother that affection to death than let on that anything was amiss. Also he was her cat's vet. She would have to be professional and friendly about it. That could be easy. She was used to pretending to be indifferent, why make a difference now?

She sighed. This was going to be hard.

Dick, who had long stopped laughing, sighed and walked over to her on the couch, holding a black cat, and sporting scars. The cat had been struggling to get out of his hands but he still held on fast, plopping the cat onto Raven's lap. The cat had sniffed, but settled herself on her owner's lap. Dick sat next to her, looking a little uncomfortable.

"I didn't mean to go that far, Raven,"he replied.

"Don't apologise, Dick," Raven replied brusquely. "Garfield and I are just friends, he isn't interested in me that way."

"That can't be rig-"Dick argued

"Shut it," she ordered. "He flirts with everyone. I'm not his type of girl. Any more from you is just going to make things worse."

Dick was quiet, but only for a short while. "You're selling yourself short Raven. And you don't know if you don't ask right?"

Raven didn't reply and neither did Dick.


	11. The Misinterpretation of Communication

The Halloween Affair, as it had later come to be known, started out like this:

 _When Raven was 5…_

No, wait, too far back.

 _A month and 2 weeks ago…_

Still too far.

Raven woke up in her blissfully dark room, groggy. Azar had been kneading her arm urgently and meowing, sounding as though she had not eaten for eons.

She stretched her arms out and wiped the sleep from her eyes.

Then it hit her.

"Halloween!" she said in a low whisper, quietly excited. It had finally arrived!

Then her face fell as it hit her again.

"Halloween," she groaned. It had finally arrived.

And she had so much work to do.

Fuck her life.

* * *

Garfield, who had finished a very long, tiring shift, but had managed to save a dog and her puppies, had woken up in his outrageously bright room, with a cat that had resorted to sitting on his chest to get his attention and cutting off his air circulation.

"GWARFLX," was his first reaction.

"Mao," was the reply he got from his cat son. Garfield understood that sound. It meant, "Now. As in feed me. Now."

"You're my son, you have to respect me," Garfield groaned. "Just cause you're cute and fluffy doesn't mean you can be all demanding."

MC Nugget had ignored him, nosing around his hair and pawing at his face.

He groaned and pushed the cat away from his face, rolling over on his side and sitting up in bed.

Then he looked over at his phone to check the time, and he remembered why his cat had woken him up. It was morning, for one thing. MC Nugget liked being fed at 7 am on the dot. It was now 6.59am. It was actually the reason why Garfield never slept in later than 9.30 and gave him time to potter around the apartment doing mundane things like feed Victor's DVR with more pre-recorded episodes of Dr Phil, and Say Yes To The Dress. Not that he often had time to watch them all. Which was sorta the point.

Grumbling he took his cat and carried his cat son out into the kitchen, where Victor was, scrolling through his phone feed.

"You're chipper today, little squirt," Victor greeted the two. Garfield's only response was to gently put his cat son on the kitchen top counter and then send over a half-hearted finger salute towards the larger man.

Damn he wished he was bigger and more threatening. This vegan lifestyle did not make him look intimidating. Maybe Gaston from Beauty and The Beast had the right idea to eat four dozen eggs. Although honestly eggs were just weird, and was it raw eggs or the egg white and did he even eat it in an omelette or was it a boiled egg situation or -

"Greenboy!" Victor was yelling and Garfield realised that maybe it had been a bad idea watching Beauty and the Beast again the night before. It was giving him ideas. And Raven would make a perfect Belle, what with her love of books, her total disregard of the townsfolk who gossiped about her, and associating with pricks with black hair who thought their hair was all fancy-

Victor threw a glass of water on Garfield and that's when the man finally paid proper attention to what Victor was saying.

"Come on man!" Victor was whining after Garfield had recovered from his spluttering and shock of being smacked with water. "It's Halloween! We have things to do! People to see! Candy to prep!"

Garfield shook blond hair out of his eyes.

Oh.

Victor's grandparents had a tradition of leading a Halloween Block Party for the children of the neighbourhood and Victor, no matter where he was, always came back to help his grandparents organise the party. This year was their first year away from the block they lived in and yet, as Victor had constantly reminded Garfield, he wanted to help the neighbourhood to have some sort of normalcy, and that included keeping some of the traditions his grandparents had established.

This also included Garfield's help for some reason, and Garfield had, for some reason, agreed.

"Ah right, right," muttered the man in question. His cat meowed fervently, eyes big and pleading. Right, breakfast. Cat feed. He got up from his chair with a big groan, feeling his back protest from the exertion, and made his way to the cupboard where he kept the cat food, away from MC Nugget's prying eyes and paws.

Maybe he should consider investing in an automatic cat feeder, he thought as he poured dry cat food from his pail. The kind with the camera and speaker to check on his cat at home. He'd seen videos. He wondered if his baby boy would be shocked hearing his voice come out of the feeder while he was at work. Being a single dad was hard work.

And it was very likely he was going to be a single dad for the rest of his life. No wonder Bob Saget had his friend and brother in law stay in the same house with him, it beat the fucking loneliness of a life spent alone stretched out like the wide and gaping maw of a dead fish.

God he hated fish. Especially when they were dead. There was a reason why he never ate sashimi. Besides the fact that he was a vegan. That was important too. The fact that he fed his cat fish was a sign that he sacrificed his own needs for his baby.

And as such he was going to do the same for Raven. Who clearly was living with Scott Dicksick, Lord of the Dicks. I mean, all he wanted was for her to be happy, right?

He then realised that Victor, who had in the past never demonstrated any talent for mind-reading of any kind, seemed to be saying the word Raven a lot.

"Raven?" he asked, essentially showing how much of the conversation he had heard, which could be summarised pretty simply as 'nothing really, except for that one bit.'

"Have you not heard a single word I've been saying?" Victor demanded. "I don't have time for your mourning over your what could have been with Raven, I need your roguish smile and your ability to do sleight of hand for the best trick or treat session at 6 before we head over to the bookshop for Raven's storytelling and poetry reading-"

That was so Raven, Garfield thought, almost fondly, before he realised that he was meant to be guarding himself from Romantic Feelings and so instead busied himself into pretending he was listening to Victor.

Unfortunately that meant he had, once again, lost exactly 100% of the conversation.

"So you copy?" Asked Victor, his huge frame looming over the man.

"Yeah, sure, total comprende, Senor Taco Man," Garfield waved it off.

"Good, awesome!" Victor grinned. He went behind the counter and brought out two giant orange bags filled to the brim with candy. "Now I need you to take this to all the businesses down the road, they need this candy they can put down on their counters. I have to supervise the table rentals and the catering so I have to stay here, but I have faith in you, tiny one! Just follow what I said earlier and you'll be fine."

A beat.

Then, "I HAVE TO CARRY ALL THAT?!"

" DID YOU NOT LISTEN TO A THING I SAID-"

* * *

Raven, whose last name was not Symoné, couldn't be blamed for not seeing this coming.

She was human after all, and despite her looks, could not be relied on to tell the future. She just dressed like a witch, after all. Despite the fact that she regularly looked at her tarot cards, had come from a long line of women who worked in roles of magic, shamanism, owned a black cat, and the fact that her mother had once been a priestess at a Wiccan coven, Raven didn't have the gift of foreseeing bad luck.

So she did what she did best: namely celebrating the occult, the forces that were out there, the mother goddess, and cleansed with crystals, sage and incense on a weekly basis. She consulted with her tarot cards (she had a lovely set painted and made by a friend of hers, incidentally the one that Malchior was cheating on her, who made them for Raven as a token of thanks), and she meditated. It was the best way to deal with any impending bad luck, and the rational part of her mind reasoned that at the very least, it had a placebo effect on her, keeping her calm, cool and collected for any sort of situation that could happen.

All that sort of prep, however, did not prepare her for Garfield Logan, at her bookstore entrance, carrying the bag of candy she was expecting for the neighborhood block party activities, all while she was covered in sweat, dust, grease, and fake cobwebs.

Damn Timothy. Damn him forgetting about setting out the new display of books and having stored them behind the dusty backroom, and after Melvin had gone a little overboard decorating the entire bookstore with fake cobwebs. Damn the child. Damn her for not doing as much upper body strength exercises with Kori because currently she was huffing and puffing after only a few minutes of lifting. She knew she was sweating, she felt beads of it rolling down her forehead. Damn Kori for not being here as the Youtuber was fucking strong, she had been a great help during last year's party, she had helped with the crafts and the decor she specially created for her YouTube channel after all. Damn her for having employees that she loved, and her roommate. Damn lots of things.

"Hey!" And there was fucking Garfield too, his face a mixture of confusion, embarrassment, and awkwardness, standing at the door, looking as though he wanted to be anywhere but here. Damn the man.

Raven inwardly groaned.

She and Garfield hadn't spoken since the Netflix and Flail incident, and she didn't want to speak to the man particularly. There was just this weird air of tension all around them, and it annoyed the shit out of her. Not to mention that Garfield looked fucking adorable, with his dirty blonde hair curling somewhat, a shirt that actually fitted him, and green eyes that were now studiously avoiding looking at her straight on. Was the man blushing a little? The near sexual harassment had to stop, the man was embarrassed.

Fuck this, she ruined their friendship, she had to find a way to salvage this. So she tried the first thing that came to her mind: absolute nonchalant nonchalance.

"Dr. Logan." Good. Calm measured tones. That was a good start. And she even dared to look the man in the eyes too. "Come in."

* * *

Gar winced. Fuck, monotonous. Raven was mad. And the glint in her eye when she looked at him was so full of contempt he was pretty sure he would have burned in hell.

It didn't help that she looked gorgeous too. She looked a little flushed, probably from carrying the box of books she had in her arms, which she had then set on the counter. It gave her a healthy glow about her face. She was wearing jeans that fit her well, her hair was tied back which showed off all the angles of her face (there were strands of cobwebs on her hair, but she still pulled it off.)

"Raven." There. Sensible, calm and collected. This was proper adulting. He gestured towards the bags in his hands." I have the candy for tonight?" He winced internally when he realised he had phrased it as a question. He tried again, this time going for cavalier and a little more himself," Tha candy man has come!" he proclaimed, a little louder than he had expected.

And that was when he realised that Raven wasn't alone in the shop: two young men who had been lugging around Halloween decor wearing masks (and for one of them, a spiffy sea captain's hat complete with a large plume) had stopped what they were doing to stare at the man currently making a fool of himself in front of their beautiful, terrifying boss. He was pretty sure he had seen one of them moving books around when he had last been there. Fuck, now he was being embarrassing in front of people he knew.

And yelling about the Candy Man part was probably not helping.

That could explain why one of the men was currently staring at him, eyebrows raised so high it nearly disappeared into his hairline. The other, who was the one wearing the hat, was making a choked sound that did not hide his amusement.

God, he was a fail. He reached into the bag and grabbed the packet that had been labelled,"Nevermore" helpfully, and passed it to Raven.

Raven, who had been staring at him, one eyebrow raised, simply replied,"O...kay," and took the proffered packet gingerly from him.

The silence between the two was so thick that Garfield envisioned it making a sexy music video rapping about their curves, along with guest rapper Nicki Minaj. Well, some sort of tension anyway.

* * *

" So…." Garfield offered, the man quietly shifting one of the bags in his hands.

" So...:" Raven agreed, shifting the packet in her arms.

Timmy and Taylor, both of who were now abandoning all pretence of any sort of work, were staring at both of them outright. Raven would have slapped them both in the head, but then she had important conversation to make. And thus, she decided, privacy was needed.

" Backroom, " she announced abruptly, turning to Timmy and thrusting the bag of candy at his chest. " Timothy, Taylor, continue about your business, I will be back." She made a move to walk into the back room and Garfield, catching on pretty quickly, followed her.

Raven waited for the door to close behind Garfield before she heaved a big sigh and looked the man in the eye. " I think I owe you an apology." she began.

* * *

" An...apology?" Garfield repeated incredulously. What on earth was going on?

The woman made the same noise again, but she did look a tad sad, as she brushed away more of the cobwebs still stuck to her shirt. "The last time, I didn't mean… I didn't want you to be uncomfortable."

"Un-"

" I mean-" the woman continued, " I didn't mean to do ...what I did. That whole thing should never have started, and I shouldn't have made you feel like that-"

And then, Garfield's brain connected and realised what she was talking about, not listening to the words of what she said, but getting the gist.

Of course. She was saying that she didn't mean to play him like that, she was in a committed relationship with Herr Dicktator. And that made him feel really sad, somehow. She probably was trying to tell him that she wanted space, and she needed distance, and that they shouldn't be friends anymore-

" -and I just wanted you to know that-"

" I get it!" Garfield said loudly. " I should. We can let's make it easier…" he smiled sadly at her. " No classes for the time being, okay?"

Raven's eyes widened, as if taken aback, then she looked away. " Yeah. Whatever you need. Whatever makes you comfortable-"

" Yeah-. Sure." Garfield winced. Fuck, Raven was being sad again, but it was important, he had to, he was doing this for her own good. He braved a grin that he knew didn't quite meet his eyes. "You'll still be seeing me during vet visits, and I'll always be there for you when you need...cat advice and stuff…"

" Yeah," Raven said, hesitantly. "We're still...friends right?"

And there it was, the words he dreaded yet was gratified to hear. Hey, that was better than nothing right? Being...friends. Raven wanted to be friends, and nothing more. He grinned. " Of course, Raven."

* * *

" I'll see you around, " said the man, and Raven had to blink away the shock of what was happening.

Friends. They were still friends. That was better than nothing right? That meant he only saw her as ...yeah. She was never going to date someone as bright as Garfield Logan. And he also wanted space.

She fucked it up. She told him that she made him feel uncomfortable with her nearly doing what she did, and that she ...yeah, it made sense that he wanted space away from her. She ...fuck. She didn't deserve him. He was sunlight and fresh air, she was….something. Depressing maybe. She watched the man open the door and walk out the backroom, and she trailed behind him, looking mournfully as the man, still grabbing his bag full of candy, push the store door open and walk down the street.

Welp, at least the awkwardness was over, and they could work past this situation. She could take the opportunity of time to get over Garfield Logan, even if he was an annoying, beautiful man. This was good.

This was good.

This was…

* * *

Bad.

This was bad.

Garfield Logan walked till he was sure he was out of distance from Nevermore, and then growled, a sound of pure frustration.

FUCKING HELL WHY DID HE HAVE FEELINGS.

* * *

She decided not to dwell on the subject anymore, as her team needed her for the Halloween event that night, and tried to push it out of her mind for the rest of the afternoon.

He decided to continue on to the next store to pass out candy and finish his rounds for the rest of the afternoon. Victor needed him.

Neither of them were successful.

* * *

Across Jump City, at the airport, a redheaded woman grabbed her suitcase and rolled the bag out of the airport. She removed the giant backpack she had been carrying from her shoulders and reached into the pockets of her bag to remove her phone, opening a hired car app to take her home.

She was tired, but then again, she had been working hard just to make sure she could come back a little ahead of schedule, and she wanted to surprise Raven and Dick, and maybe even...well.

She looked at the pockets of the bag to see the small red box that she had made sure she collected from the jewellers in her last shooting location before she left for the plane that would take her home, and she smiled.

She hoped her plan would work.

* * *

Raven stepped out of the shower of her apartment, a little glad that she had enough time to be clean after all the prep she had to do for the store, and rolled her shoulders to get rid of the tensing ache in them, when suddenly she heard a noise coming from outside the door.

She froze. While she knew Azar was still in the apartment, since when did the cat know how to open their old rickety front door? Keeping herself calm, the woman grabbed her towel, made sure that it was secured tightly around her chest, and grabbed a bottle of shampoo from the ledge and poised herself. She made sure she got a good grip on the plastic surface before she took a deep breath, yanked the door open with a quick movement, and turned to face the intruder and throwing the bottle at the stranger's face with a shrill scream.

The intruder screamed in reaction but managed to snatch the bottle out of the air, and Raven managed to get a good look at the intruder: her erstwhile supposedly away for another week roommate and best friend….

" KORI CANELOPE ANDERS!" the shorter woman yelled before she was glomped tightly by the tall redhead.

" Raven, it is good to see you again!" Raven heard the woman enthused, her voice vibrating through her body, where Raven could feel it through her chest. The two women parted before Kori looked at Raven with a questioning eye. "My middle name, as you know by now, is not 'Canelope', Raven," she said, mildly chiding. "If you still do not know my middle name by now, I believe we have need to do another Soul-searching Exercise in the Jump City Woods-"

"Nope, never doing that again, nope," Raven balked, even though she was smiling. Her memories of the last Soul-searching Exercise still stayed clear in her head and she wanted to make sure she never went through that ever again. "Your people are lovely, Kore, but I did not enjoy the drum circles, that weird soup we had to drink, or the dancing in the woods naked-"

"You are doing the exaggerating for comic effect, Raven!" Kori laughed. "Our people do not dance naked in the woods- this Garfield Logan you are smitten with has made you increase your feeling of the funnies!"

And her smile just fell off her face. Right. Garfield Logan. The one she had unsuccessfully pushed out of her mind. Kori, never one to miss a mood change, parted her lips in a question before her eyes widened in sad surprise.

"Oh, Raven," she breathed. "What has happened?"

Raven sighed.

* * *

"Duuuude," Victor was waving his hands. Garfield vaguely registered that the bigger man wanted his attention, so he pretended that he had been listening to what Victor had been saying the last couple of minutes.

"Yes, I swear I have been listening to what you were saying for the last couple of minutes," the man muttered in his vague, 'Yes I've been listening don't worry wait why are you giving me a look I didn't NOT listen to you Vic my man I swear' voice.

"I wasn't even talking to you then, little bro." Victor raised his eyebrow. " I just got here to set up for the party." Now that Garfield thought about it, he was sitting on a bench right in front of the store waiting for the tables and chairs to come out from the nearby community hall so that they could set up for the party, which was what Victor had asked him to meet him after he finished giving out the candy. "I was waving at you cause I JUST GOT HERE. Why are you so bummed, did they stop selling vegan Mac and Cheese at Karen's cafe? Did you give her the candy to her place, by any chance?"

" Duders, I gots it, okay?" Garfield interrupted. " I gave all the candy to all the people involved in the block party, and then got the extra groceries, and then I even went down to Old Mrs Josephine's place and gave her a foot massage for the event so that she can walk down and see her grandkids, I did everything on the list you gave me!"

Victor's eyebrow did not lower, which did not fill Garfield with much hope. "Yeah I told you to go and give Old Mrs Josephine a MESSAGE that her grandkids would be there to escort her at 6 pm, did you really give her a foot massage, dude?"

Garfield, who had absolutely no idea if he was an idiot or a colossal idiot, harumphed in dismay.

"Though I must say, dude, thanks for giving her the foot massage, she's always complaining about being off her feet because of her candle selling job." Victor continued, shaking his head ruefully. " Why someone her age would take up being a door to door candle salesperson is beyond me, but she always says it helps her meet new people, so-"

Garfield brushed past the details of what he had just learnt, though he was sure he found the entire story vaguely familiar. "I just…"

" And speaking of new people!" Victor was still talking, holy god. " Dude you need to come with me to the party after you do the magic show-"

"Wait, what?" Garfield cried. "What party? Why am I going to this party? I don't need to - My baby needs me!"

" Your baby, " Victor rolled his eyes, "is currently hiding underneath the couch, hissing because I did what you instructed me to do and used that weird- assed tongue thing on him-"

" How dare you!" Garfield howled, getting up from his bench. " My son loves the Licki brush! You didn't even put that thing in your mouth and groom him like I do-"

" That is some white people's nonsense, and I am not putting my mouth where you did, you sick disgusting-"

"Hey, hey! My mouth is definitely clean and -"

" I am not having second-hand kisses from my roommate just for his frigging furball son!" Victor bellowed. "Dude, you need to come with me to the block party, you need to meet new people, get yourself out there, and forget about Raven Roth!"

And immediately, Garfield's mouth dried up, and he opened his mouth and closed it several times before he managed to open it and force a, " I am over her!" he screeched. " I was….hey wait I never said I was in love with her!"

" Dude, you were pining." Victor retorted. " Pining over the woman like a Christmas tree. And green cause you were jealous. You're practically a forest by now. Taylor Swift's dad used to farm you for money."

That earned him a weird look from Garfield.

" Cause well, Taylor Swift's dad had a Christmas tree farm." Victor tried again.

Another weird look from Garfield made Victor sigh.

"Christmas trees. Pines." Victor tried once more. "Wordplay. Cause you are ...a pine tree. Cause you pine."

Garfield shook his head, and Victor shook his in exasperation. " Just come to the party, and meet new people, you shithead."

* * *

" Raven, I am so so sorry!" cried Kori after Raven told Kori what had happened that morning, with the shorter girl now leaning against Kori's chest as the redheaded held her firmly. "This Garfield truly does not see the jewel that you are if he just wants to be friends." She gave Raven another squeeze with one arm while stroking Raven's hair as a way to comfort her. Raven didn't mind. It was similar to the scritches she gave Azar and Azar purred. She knew how it felt to be a cat. She liked it.

" You really have nice hands, Kori," Raven murmured. "Dick is a lucky man."

The woman beamed. "Thank you, friend Raven!" she cheered. "Men like Richard are truly to be thankful for!" Then the woman's eyes widened. "Oh, yes, this is why I have returned earlier, as I have a favour to ask of you, Raven!"

" You're planning to ask Richard to marry you, and you need my help, right?" Raven smirked and adjusted her towel, which she realised she was still wearing while talking. Kori gasped softly, her eyes widening.

"Raven, you have attained the power to read minds now?" Kori cheered. "The tarot readings and crystals have worked!"

" Your bag is open, Kori," Raven drawled. "I can see the red box in the front pouch." She pointed to said bag, which did indeed have the red box in question, small enough to hold a ring. "For what's it's worth, I think you're doing the right thing." She said, standing up. "But what do you need me to do?"

Kori beamed, now truly excited. It was lovely to see her so happy, Raven thought, silently, and around Dick, for that matter. Someone should be happy in love, and who better than those two silly people?

She quashed the thought of dirty blonde hair and green eyes and concentrated on what Kori was telling her, outlining the plan in question.

"So, you want to do this tonight then?" Raven asked. "During the block party?"

Kori nodded. " During the block party."

Raven smirked. " Wonderful, I'll make the announcement then."


	12. The Clearing of the MistUnderstanding

If Raven were, at this point, to continue the story, the story would have been completed with the driest of details, ending the story in a minute.

If Garfield were, at this point, to continue the story, the story would have gone around in circles and go off in random tangents that would technically have no part to play in the story whatsoever, but since it was Garfield, he would still have audiences eating out of the palm of his hand, and, in essence, would have finished off the story with a contract to create a 9 season television show where the narrator was very unreliable and had Dick played by Neil Patrick Harris, just to show how much of a dick he was. Not that Garfield thought that Neil Patrick Harris was a dick in real life, he was just very good at playing one. Which was going off on a tangent that was mirroring his own narrative style, goddamnit!

If someone more reliable, say Victor, continued the story, he would have actually stuck to the points and did very well, but would have overemphasized on how much the two main characters were idiots and ignored the feelings and pining of the two characters.

Perhaps it is fortunate that none of the characters in the story were able to narrate this story.

Let us continue.

* * *

Garfield had absolutely no idea how he managed to help Victor sort out the rest of the block party logistics while still being able to find time to go back upstairs, feed MC Nugget, take a shower, shave and put on his costume, which he and Victor had agreed on doing weeks before, style his hair, put on his earrings, and steel-toed boots. He had finished putting on his gloves when he heard Victor come in and opened the door of his bedroom to show the taller man his finished work.

Victor paused in removing his workboots to give the shorter man an appraising glance. "Spiffy, and nothing short of my favourite rookie cadet from _Planet B.E.R_!" he nodded approvingly.

Garfield smirked.

"Shame I wasn't able to get the costume in time though, I would have loved being dressed up as Lt Cyranus Petyr," the other man continued, walking past him and removing his shirt, tossing it into the laundry basket before making a beeline to the bathroom. "Man, I could use a shower- ouch!"

That ouch, of course, was due to an incensed Garfield having taken off his glove to toss it at the back of Victor's very bald head.

" Whaddya mean you didn't get the costume?!" he yelled. " Duders! I wore this costume with the express knowledge that you were going to do it with me! Private Beebee Zipzap cannot do this shit without Lt. Cyranus by his side being his bro!" He gestured to the costume he was wearing with an agitated hand. "I can't be the only one wearing this! No one will get the reference!"

Victor rolled his eyes. "Bro, I told you this two days ago that I was going as Dwayne Johnson back in the 80s! I have the turtleneck and the fannypack and everything! Stop ignoring me just because of the whole Raven thing!"

Garfield ignored him in favour of sulking into his purple bomber jacket, which did not take a small amount of time to acquire, by the way, having taken 3 weeks for him to find the correct one that matched closely to the outfit worn by Zipzap on the show. "Ah fuck, I'm gonna look like such a frigging nerd already!" he grumbled. "Betrayed by my own flesh and blood-"

"Little dude, I'm dark chocolate, and you're at best the shade of curdled milk, we ain't no way related-"

"Semantics." Garfield waved it off. "And it's too late for me to change! I've been practicing sleight of hand with this jacket already!"

"Then just wear it, and get on with it!" Victor drawled, already making his way to the bathroom for that much-needed shower. "Remember, the kids are coming in 45 minutes!"

Damn, and he still needed to practice some other tricks!

He growled, and made his way down the stairs into the bodega, he was pretty sure he stashed the tricks there.

* * *

Raven Roth, who took Halloween seriously, looked at her leotard, purple stockings, hooded skull cloak with feathers sewn on the shoulders, and nodded with approval before slipping on purple heeled boots.

This was her first time trying the outfit and she had to admit it, she liked how powerful the entire ensemble made her feel. It was from her favourite sci-fi show, of course, one of the only nice things Mal had left her with, and she and Mal were meant to be wearing couple costumes for the night. But of course, plans never went as intended, and she had been avoiding wearing the costume since.

Now though, she put on the costume and decided to forget Malchior, as well as any lovely looking veterinarians who were only allowed as friends, goddamnit, and begin her first night as a strong, independent woman.

Besides, tonight was not for her.

She heard the knock coming in from outside her door and opened it to let Kori in, who smiled and clapped her hands in glee seeing Raven in her outfit.

"Oh glorious, Raven!" Kori laughed, "The purple brings a lovely light into your eyes!"

"I do like it," Raven admitted. "I don't like the way it's riding up the butt though-"

Without warning, Kori grabbed Raven by the shoulders, turned her unceremoniously around, and flipped the cloak to see the leotard in question. Raven choked a little in the heavyhanded treatment, and protested in squeaks, but Kori reached out to adjust the wedgie in question. "There!" Kori said with satisfaction. "I believe the derriere is covered!" She tilted her head as she scrutinised the leotard in question. "That is the most I have ever seen of the buttocks in question, Raven, and they look rather sumptuous! And your legs look wonderful- "

"Oh good lord, shut up." Raven gritted out, blushing fiercely, though secretly she was rather proud of her legs. While she was never tall and willowy like Kori was, she at the least had nice legs.

The butt thing she could do without. Butts were for sitting on, and no one in their right mind would ever like her butt.

"And I must declare that your bottom to waist ratio is spectacular in this outfit-"

That was waaaaaaay too much butt talk for Raven, whose tolerance for it had often been stuck at "near zero". If it had been anyone but Kori, she would have slapped them by now. "Shouldn't we be getting you ready for your proposal?" she hurried said, trying to change the subject.

That made Kori clap hard. "Yes! Definitely so!" She reached into her pockets and pulled out a thumbdrive, which she then passed to Raven with shining eyes. "I am so happy that you're doing this for us, Raven!" she said, and any embarrassment lingering in Raven's heart that occurred during that rather humiliating butt talk was erased when she saw just how hopeful and excited Kori was.

Seriously Dick should have done this 3 years ago. But well, fuck Dick, Kori was her best friend. Raven's eyes softened, and she clasped the thumbdrive with a look of love and exasperation in her eyes. " He better not hurt you, Kori." She mumbled.

Kori's eyes were full on tearing up, and Raven took it as a sign that they had to get ready before Kori ruined her already meticulously applied face.

* * *

One hour into the party and already Garfield felt ten years older.

How was handling small children so annoying?!

He normally liked small children, but these kids were brats who demanded and screamed their lungs out for candy, and his amazing sleight of hand tricks weren't even working on these kids!

" ' Criss Angel does actual proper magic where he stands on water', " he said in a high-pitched voice meant to imitate a small child that had been, for some reason, British, and wearing a Superman costume. He had seen the lull in the amount of children coming up to his area during the block party, and taken advantage of that fact to go back into the bodega to steal a drink from the soda fridge." 'You're just a hacky science nerd!' My testicles are curdling I swear, never having children-"

He had to thank his lucky stars though. It was going to be 8.30pm soon, and that meant the kids would be gone! Then he can grab some of the sweet sweet vegan food Karen B's restaurant peeps brought over, and then he could sit and rest, and hide away from the small children and their very insistent, poky, flirty parents.

Single moms were scary.

And kept trying to feel up his arms.

He switched on the lights to the bodega, and opened the fridge door, grabbed a can at random and opened the tab, taking a long, slow gulp from the can and sighing deeply.

And Vic had been no help at all, the man had been so busy trying to make sure everything else went well that he had hardly any time to even hang with Garfield. There was practically no one his age at the party at the moment, where were all the millennials? Were they all at some secret hottie party he wasn't invited to? What the hell-

There was a quick rap on the glass door of the bodega, and Garfield, startled, turned his head to the direction of the door, where he could make out a tall figure at the door. He opened the door to reveal what seemed to be a tall redhead with tanned skin, green eyes and a smile on her face that faltered a little upon seeing Garfield.

Almost immediately, Garfield made a mental note to perhaps tone down a little on the purple. And maybe pat down his forehead, he was sure he was sweating a storm. He certainly was in no way impressing this woman, but still he gave her his best smile, a roguish tilt of his head and his best deep drawl. "How can I help you, little lady?"

The redhead frowned. "Is this not Victor's store? I did not realise he was away-"

" It is!" Garfield hurriedly replied, "Victor, store, yes! We're not actually open-"

"Yes , I am of the understanding of that," said the woman, and he was pretty sure this lady was foreign, or a princess or something and uber smart, maybe English was her third language? "I am here seeking for the paper of the lavatory, we seem to have run out in both store and home, and we require assistance, as we are holding an event of momentous occasion. All the other stores have closed cause of the block party-"

Ah, okay. He could sympathize with that, he completely understood toilet emergencies, having been the subject and the cause of a few. "We still have a couple of cartons left-"

"Glorious!" The redhead clapped. "We would require this, along with the towelly sheets of paper, and a few types of ramen noodles, and tooth paste, and beer-"

Garfield gulped. This he was not expecting.

And so it was that after 10 minutes of negotiation and a quick call to Victor to seek permission to leave the party, Garfield found himself chatting and helping the tall redhead carry groceries back. The redhead had at the beginning protested and claimed she was strong enough to carry all the groceries back by herself but Garfield saw that she had also bought a few cans of fancy Cat Food and come on, it was heavy! So he proceeded to do so.

He found his mistake in a matter of minutes and the redhead, who introduced herself as Kori Anders, tactfully told him that she was willing to help. She grabbed the bags easily (clearly a frequent gym goer) and they walked together to her destination, making a little small talk. Kori Anders apparently was helping out at a party but they didn't need her at the moment until the last bit so she and her roommate agreed that she could make a quick grocery run.

"And I thank the gods that I did, because lacking in the paper of toilets would have been the most catastrophic," laughed Kori. Garfield, who had at this point been entertained himself, laughed too, and it was so light and so easy that he wondered just why it was he didn't and couldn't manage to do so with any other women-

And fuck, there he was, back at thinking about Raven Fucking Roth and her small, but very cute, smile, her eyerolls and her snarky, biting lines.

What was he thinking? Friends? FRIENDS?! Like he was going to pine for Raven Roth like that asshat Ross did for Rachel for ten seasons and then they end up together despite the fact that Ross clearly was terrible for Rachel and she should have gone to Joey and had an actual organic relationship? Fuck Ross and his gell-head, asshole dick like face and personality of the 90s.

God he wished he and Raven were talking like actual friends and it could be less awkward than usual.

He missed Raven.

Hell, he missed her so much that he was beginning to see things that reminded him of her.

Like the bookshop-

Wait a fucking second, the bookshop?!

Snapping out of his fugue state, he finally looked up at his surroundings only to realise that Kori and him were actually at Nevermore Book Nook, which was open and filled with patrons with multi-coloured hair, piercings, wild looking makeup and dark looking costumes.

"WE'RE HERE!" trilled the redhead and it was then that Garfield realised who Kori Anders' roommate was.

* * *

Raven, who had already sat through 5 poetry readings and 8 book readings, was currently making sure the tarot card readings were going okay while keeping an eye out for either Kori or Dick.

The plan was simple really. Make sure that Dick didn't see Kori and distract him thoroughly. That was one reason why Kori was out of the house to gather groceries really.

That and the fact of the matter was, they had absolutely run out of toilet paper. Raven wanted to kick herself for even forgetting a simple household item as that. They would technically require a lot, since people were coming and going a lot in the store, and they didn't have enough upstairs as well.

So currently Raven was keeping an eye out for the brunette in question, and making sure that he did not see the redhead in question. Luckily the brunette was working late and currently on his way back which would technically take a good 20 minutes more. She did send Kori out 15 minutes ago though, so she was anxiously looking out at the backroom to see if Kori was back.

Distractedly, she shifted her cloak so that she could get some movement on her right side, where her most dominant arm was at. The cloak got stuck at an angle where it showed off her leotard, boots and thigh high socks, but she welcomed the air, it was getting a bit stifling inside the bookshop, what with the people coming in and going. She could hear voices coming from the back room and she turned back to confirm if it was Kori back with the groceries.

To her relief, the tall redhead was back, which meant she could quickly bring the toilet paper and groceries back up the stairs-

Raven felt her head blank out when she saw just who Kori was with at the backroom, as Garfield Logan locked eyes with her.

* * *

Raven looked, to be very very honest… hot.

For one thing, she was dressed as LaTuin De Casta, the spellcaster from the sci-fi show that Garfield himself was dressed from. Garfield loved Private ZipZap but if he had to be very honest, he had a secret crush on LaTuin, the sorceress who Private ZipZap had flirted a lot when the main characters were stateside and visited LaTuin for her wares and spells on _Planet B.E.R._

And while the original costume had befitted the actress on the show very well, Garfield never thought they would…well… expose Raven's assets in such a way.

Like…her waist.

Was her waist always that small?

He thought that waist was rather vulnerable. Like it needed a hand to steady the back of it.

Like it needed HIS hand to hold against her.

For another…her legs were in full display in the costume.

Considering the whole outfit was supposed to be hidden behind the rather heavy cloak, he had absolutely no idea how he was able to see the leotard, her waist and her legs. Yet, he was noticing all the details, separately and together almost all at once. The top of the stockings ending at the middle of her thigh, creating a lovely slash of creamy skin contrasted with the lilac stripes. The skin looked soft. The shapely legs leading down to short, sturdy boots that gave her a bit more height, so that while usually she was a good 6 inches below his own height, now she was taller so he didn't have to look down at her all the time.

And her eyes.

Good lord, were her eyes always that purple? Her eyes were usually ringed with something black and soft but today her lashes looked even longer, and framed her face softly. Some sort of shimmer eyeshadow had been applied on the lids and made the usually big and round eyed Raven looked more sleek, which made her face look so much more interesting. And her lips were matte black, but it emphasised a cupid's bow that he dearly wanted to lay a kiss on.

Goddamnit why the hell did she look so gorgeous wearing THAT?

And also why the hell did she notice he was there?

Kori, who had excitedly waved Raven over, had quickly chattered at Raven who nodded and smiled while her eyes darted at Garfield, who was studiously pretending not to stare too hard at her. He was pretty sure he didn't hear a single word of what Kori was saying, nor a word that Raven was saying. He was just following the shape of her lips, moving up and down and…

" I'm sorry." Raven seemed to be saying to Garfield, and it was then that Garfield finally stopped drifting in his fugue state to listen to what she was saying. But that meant that he had basically heard…absolutely nothing. To make up for this, he shifted his eyebrows into a, "basically understanding the situation" look, and nodded, as though he had understood.

" Not to worry!" he said. Then he threw in a wide, toothy grin. " I get that a bit."

Raven looked rather relieved, and she relaxed, shifting the garment to hide the rest of her costume again, which may have made Garfield moan internally at the fact that she was hiding her rather…spectacular body. Though it also meant that not many would hit on her just by looking at her?

Who was he kidding, Raven would get tons of men simply by her wit and charm.

" You could…stay. For a bit. We're prepping for a surprise soon, and well, we need to draw the crowd in a bit…" Raven asked.

Garfield's instinct, which was to run screaming into the sunset, despite the fact that it was already night, was quashed in order to seem polite. " I …I should go… I mean, I have to get back, Victor is looking for me-"

That comment was interrupted by the loud growl of his stomach.

" You could stay for a small bite to eat first?" Raven said, and Garfield was pretty sure that she looked a little more downcast. "I mean, you helped with getting our groceries, and I made vegan chilli with Kori's help for the party…which I made using your recipe, by the way."

Garfield's resolve was wavering because fuck it, he loved chilli. The fact that Raven had made his vegan version of it was creating something soft in him.

"I could really use your opinion, sensei." Raven said, and that drew a laugh from him, a short, shocked laugh because Raven, of all people, was using the word Sensei. She clearly learnt it from him. And it was nice, that despite his crush being in a relationship, she clearly wanted to be friends.

So he nodded, though he privately wanted to slap himself. " Sure!" he said, " What could possibly go wrong?"

* * *

Raven wanted to cry.

For one thing, what the fuck was Garfield doing here? She had been so sure he would be at the block party, entertaining small children! For another, why the hell did Kori have to find Victor's bodega as the place to get the groceries, ensuring that she would bump into Garfield and get him to come here of all places?

She was so sure Kori did that on purpose. She clearly knew who he was, Raven had described him in her messages to her for so long the only thing she would not know would be his Social Security number. For another, Kori had managed to find him using her magnificent Google-fu skills and found his Facebook account, so she clearly knew what he looked like.

And what the hell was he doing wearing the outfit of one of the characters from Planet B.E.R.?! The cute one too, Private ZipZap. And purple clearly suited him, and the earrings looked amazing on him.

And she was dressed as LaTuin too. They flirted a lot in the show. People were probably gonna think they wore couple's costumes or were involved in some way.

Kori bloody did this on purpose, especially since Raven had confessed every single bit of her feelings about him that afternoon. She would kill her, but at this point she was soft hearted enough that she would do it after the proposal. Kori and Dick deserved it. So she would be serving their heads on a plate afterwards for being absolute dolts for taking this long. She could still throw them a nice party.

Which didn't explain why she asked Garfield to stay and eat chilli, but fuck this, she was a lovely, diplomatic person. She could host a lovely fucking soiree.

Not to mention that she was, of all things, nervous. Raven had never planned something like this before, or even emceed once. She usually left that to her employees, but today she had to say something in front of this crowd of people. All of them were her crowd, certainly, but she had never actually said two things to them! And Kori's friends were coming down too, as well as Kori's adopted papa for whom she loved very much. She didn't want to mess this up for Kori.

She then eyed the one thing left on the back room that evidently had not been stowed away by Kori.

2 six packs of beers, for which she knew Kori probably bought because she wanted to do a private toast later with her friends.

Fuck this, she hated what alcohol usually did to her, but if what Dick said was true, Raven was rather more emotive with her words and thoughts when she drank right? She eyed the pack nervously, one eyebrow raised and looking straight at the can.

She had the data, after all. It was clear. Three drinks, and she was a goner, right? So why not use that to her advantage? Drink two of them, and maybe she could be in control of her faculties better. It would help with her nerves. She could control a little more about what she could say, and drunk her…well. Garfield liked drunk her. It was clear that others would like her a little more too.

Before she knew what she was doing, one hand tore into the cardboard holder, lifted the tab of the can, and raised the beer to her lips. She downed the can in one shot, wincing a little at the bitterness.

 _For Kori and Dick_ , she told herself, before she reached for the second can.

* * *

Garfield had been at the bookstore for all of 5 minutes before he found himself in the presence of His Royal Fuckwad, Dick Grayson.

The man had clearly been happy to see him, probably in a bid to brag at Garfield about his numerous exploits and his relationship with Raven, and well, maybe it was time to be receptive towards Dick Grayson. After all, if Raven and him were to be friends, he should at the very least get along with her intended right?

So he did start by paying him a compliment.

" Your…uh…hair looks especially shiny today." He tried.

The asswipe looked absolutely confused before he replied, "Thanks, it's my girlfriend's. I lathered, rinsed and repeated. Nothing special."

And that got his hackles up quickly. Why couldn't that shit for heads just take the compliment as it was?

No matter, maybe he was just especially dumb.

He tried small talk next.

" So…you're not wearing a costume huh?" he tried. " Cause I saw Raven was wearing one and she looked really pretty."

" Raven puts in a lot of effort for Halloween." Dick scoffed, downing his drink. "I wasn't even planning on coming down today, but she was very insistent I had to be here, said she wanted me to see something important."

Hackles were rising faster than ever, but Garfield had to tamp his inner beast down to make sure he was trying to make friends with Dick. Still, what kind of boyfriend didn't come to see what his girlfriend was doing? And clearly some idiots couldn't take the hint, she clearly wanted him around for one of her favourite holidays.

Breathe in and out, Garfield. In and out.

As a last resort, he went for total honesty.

" You know, you're lucky to have Raven." He said, a little dejectedly because fucking hell, it was the truth after all. " She's amazing. I hope you know that."

And Dick, whose eyes were looking at him with a dawning look of understanding, let his mouth gape open in shock and Garfield knew, he fucking knew. Dickflap Grayson knew his secret: that he, Garfield Mark Logan, had a crush on Dick's wonderful, snarky goth girlfriend Raven. Fucking hell, he wasn't expecting him to figure it out so quickly, but he was clearly smarter than most molluscs in the beach.

" Look man…" Dick said slowly, but Garfield, who knew what Dick was going to say, tried to pre-emptively block out the words. If he said the words out loud, it would be out there and fuck, wouldn't that haunt him forever? " Raven and I…we're-"

" I know, I know!" Garfield snapped. "You're happy together , two sides of the same coin, the meaning of the word love, the Juliet to your Romeo- I don't care, I know, I won't bother her like that, okay? I'll leave her alone-"

" Dude, you got it all wrong-" and was that Dickfuck actually smiling? Was the man taunting him in his moment of despair? Fuck this chump, he would beat him up if needed!

" Hey fuck you too!" Garfield snapped.

Before the smarmy git could reply though, a small tinkling sound rang across the room and the sound of a microphone being switched on could be heard.

" Folks, we actually have a very special thing happening, so if you don't mind me starting off, my boss wants to say a few words!" said the blonde employee who Garfield was sure worked at Nevermore Book Nook. She turned to pass the microphone over to the cloaked figure and Garfield could see Raven's lone figure illuminated on stage.

She seemed a little flushed, Garfield noticed. And especially …giggly.

" Hi everyone!" And wasn't that another curious thing? Garfield thought. Raven was…cheery. " And welcome to a special presentation that's being made by me, Raven Roth, owner, proprietor, and Resident Book Keeper at Nevermore Booooooooooooooooooook Nooooooooooooooooookkkkkkk!"

There was scattered applause. Garfield could feel Dick tugging his elbow, looking to grab his attention but he angrily brushed it aside. Couldn't he see that his girlfriend who was on stage seemed especially happy?

He hoped she was okay, despite her boyfriend clearly being a mess.

" So like…Halloween is awesome, okay?" Raven said, grabbing ahold of the microphone stand and removing the mike from it. " I like the holiday because it reminds me of the time that I spent with my grandmother and my mother, before, you know…the patriarchy shut them all down. Fuck men, but then again, don't fuck men, ya know?"

Considering the fact that Raven was clearly not her usual succinct, clear self, nobody in the bookstore was actually catching on to the fact. On the contrary, there were whoops and cheers and, " You go girl!"

" Thank ya, you know what I mean!" Raven said, snapping finger guns towards the direction of the person who yelled that last bit, and who knew Raven did finger guns? " But in all honesty, Halloween means a lot about love, cause I always share the love between my chosen family. Famille. Familia. Jia ren." She hiccupped a little at the last bit, and giggled.

"Look, man, you got it all wrong-" he could hear Dick whisper in his ear.

" So in all aspects, I am glad for the people I consider my family, which includes special people like Dick Dick! You out there?"

A spotlight, Garfield had no idea gods know where from, shone across the audience and landed straight on Dick Grayson, and by extension, Garfield, since he was next to him. Dick, who clearly had no idea what was happening, winced a little at the harsh light landing on him, and Garfield, who had put two and two together in the midst of the entire presentation, pushed Dick forward towards the stage.

" YAY!" cheered Raven and fuck, she looked so happy. Of course she was happy. She was smiling so lovingly at Dick when the spotlight landed on him, and her eyes seemed to soften a lot. It was so obvious, especially since she was talking about love, and she clearly had a drink before coming on. And on Raven's favourite holiday, with Raven insisting Dick Grayson be down at the bookstore?

Raven was clearly about to propose to Dick.

And Garfield…Garfield had to get out of there, for air.

So he forced his way out of the bookstore, where he took the chance to look up at the sky, fighting any instinct to cry with a sense of numb acceptance. He took a deep breath, released it, and leaned back against the glass surface of the display. He wanted to cry but he couldn't.

So his heart was breaking in two at the thought of a girl he really really liked getting married. So what?

He barely knew her. All he knew was that she was 28, her name was Raven, her middle name was Rachel, she loved black cats, mythology, and witchcraft. She furrowed her brows when she talked to people, she liked making jokes about murdering people, she made the best pesto sauce, she had great taste in sci-fi and secretly loved ponies, and that she listened to Garfield when he gave advice. And he also knew that he never, ever, had a chance with Raven Roth.

Fuck his life.

"Hey, little bro, you…are you crying man?"

Victor. Victor fucking Stone, his best man Vic, was here. And Garfield just…god. Victor would understand.

"She's getting married man." He muttered, looking down on his shoes.

" Who?" Victor asked, taken aback.

"Raven." He mumbled. "Like…you should have seen her. She was all…shiny, you know? Raven never looks at people all shiny. And she was nervous, and she was talking about love and shit? Then she called Dickfuck up on stage…I can't look right now, man, did he say yes?"

Before Victor could reply, a small roar erupted from the inside of the bookstore as the audience clearly got a favourable answer. Garfield closed his eyes. Well, he got his answer.

"Gar, little man." Victor said slowly. "Did you say Raven proposed to her boyfriend, _Dick_?"

Garfield growled a little in frustration. "Yeah man! I told you, I've been saying it for months! Dick and Raven are totally together and living in the same apartment, the douche nozzle-"

But Victor, who was not listening for some reason, started laughing, and he grabbed Garfield by the shoulders and turned him to face the display case that led to the inside of the room-

Only to see Dick Grayson being embraced and then scooped up by Kori Anders the redhead, who then planted a huge kiss on his lips.


	13. The Recalibration of the Pages

TThe reactions to Kori's proposal, which had been filmed by Melvin, Timothy and Taylor, and then posted on the Internet 3 days later, were exuberant, and it was evident Kori's followers and subscribers were super excited knowing that their beloved content creator was about to be wed to her intended.

On the internet, for example, Kori's proposal pictures that captured the moment Dick said yes were liked 3,000,000 times, making the post one of the most popular ones ever set by an influencer. Social influencer and mogul Harley Quinn was said to have thrown a fit after hearing the stats of that post, and caused her to set up a staged fling with environment activist Pamela Isley to get attention. This then accidentally led to an actual relationship which got them married 3 years later. The two of them, grateful at Kori for getting them together (Kori had absolutely no idea why Harley Quinn even staged such a thing in the first place but hey, Harley found love right? She could support that), still send Kori boxes of makeup and hair products from their beauty collaboration line.

It had ramifications in real-time as well. Kori, who had been a rather popular influencer, had wedding sponsors throwing themselves at her to get her to use their services for the social media posts and get some clout. Kori, despite her popularity, didn't want a super ostentatious wedding and had narrowed down her choices to the brands that she thought were most reliable, after much research. All of the choices of vendors she decided to go with proved fruitful and the subsequent photos of the wedding inspired so many brides and groom that social media stars coveted and did pale imitations in their own wedding parties. It also led to her burgeoning friendship with wedding dress designer Selina Kyle who somehow, after a long series of events, fell into a rather cringey courtship with Dick's adoptive father Bruce Wayne.

("FLIRTERERS!" Dick had kept screaming, on and off throughout the very blatant flirting. "FUCKING FLIRTERS")

Garfield got a kick out of that and later became that one asshole who felt absolute schadenfreude at his friend's misery at Bruce and Selina's wedding .

But then again, you're not here to read about their love stories, are you?

* * *

Garfield's first reaction, upon seeing Kori Anders cradling Dick Grayson in a bridal carry inside the bookstore as the people cheered, was to gape in absolute horror.

Then the screaming began. "THAT FUCKING CHEATER!" Garfield yowled, his face smashed against the window display and his palms flat against the surface, his face apoplectic with rage.

Victor, who had been friends with Garfield and was there for two of his graduations, gave him a look that just denoted how sad he felt that his previous assessment of his best friend being "smarter than he looks, acts and talks" was wrong. "You're a dumb motherfucking fool." He mumbled, shaking his head sadly. "I know I raised you smarter than this."

"He and Kori are betraying Raven!" He howled hoarsely. A mile away, wolves threw their voices into the vocals. If anyone were to hear them, they would have thought it beautiful. "It's just-"

"Dude, Dick and Kori have been together since 2014," Victor said, shaking his head and taking his phone out of his fannypack. "Kori's a YouTuber. He's been in her videos for the last 4-5 years. See?" He opened up his Instagram app and scrolled before he turned his phone to show Garfield the screen.

It was a picture of Dick and Kori holding hands and the caption had read, "Happy 5th anniversary, my love, my life, my bummkopf #bae".

"See?" Victor said, waving the phone in his face. "They're the couple. Raven's not with Dick. Why did you think they were anyway?"

Some things that Garfield had seen but not expected were finally sinking in for him. "I said...you agreed." He said slowly. "I said there was a guy that was a dick hanging around Raven and you said that it was him!"

Victor looked at him like he was nuts and then Garfield remembered exactly what he had said to Victor: 

_"Anyway, I didn't know she had a boyfriend," Victor continued. "Though, if he was that guy I saw that one time a month and a half ago…"He shuddered. "That man is bad news-""_

_Garfield's ears perked up. "Really?" he said, as casually as he could._

_"Yeah, "Victor said, picking out a chunk of meat from his takeaway box. "I didn't like him. Looked like a dick."_

_"That's probably him!" Garfield nodded resolutely. "The man gave me the same vibes, man. Dickshit Slapfuck."_

"I MADE A MISTAKE!" Garfield cried. "I SAW RAVEN TALKING QUIETLY TO HIM AND HEARD THAT THE GUY YOU KNEW WAS HER BOYFRIEND WAS A DICK! But then I forgot the cardinal rule that there are dicks everywhere, even amongst friends!"

He might have collapsed onto his knees, just so he could get in the mood of devastation in the face of an assumption gone wrong. It just felt right that way.

"I completely forgot that dicks beget dicks! I mistook one dick for a completely different, dickish still but different in all the ways, dick! THAT DICK DICK WAS ANOTHER DICK, AND I AM TEED ABOUT THAT TRICKY DICK!" he raged.

"Dang, you're that emotional about it, huh?" Victor said, sounding completely bored as he scrolled through his phone. Clearly he was ignoring any crisis Garfield was currently undergoing due to how disappointed he was. "If you really wanted to know, you could have asked me." His finger stopped scrolling and he showed the screen once again to Garfield.

"THIS," he pointed at the blonde guy that Garfield clearly remembered seeing when he had been not-stalking Raven the first few days, the Draco Malfoy/David Bowie-lookalike from the Halloween photos from starfirekori "is the guy I was talking about. Also judging by this other Instagram post I just found, Raven broke up with him ages ago!" He took his phone back to zip it back up in his leather fannypack. "Face it. You like her. And I think she likes you."

Garfield's brain, which had been so rapidly been deducing things at the speed of Sherlock Holmes but drawing the wrong conclusions so spectacularly that Bob Ross himself would have been proud, started to break down what had happened.

He didn't approach Raven because he thought she and Dick were in a relationship.

Dick was hanging around Raven because he was Kori's boyfriend, so it made sense if he was living in her space.

Then- "HOMYGOD RAVEN IS CHEATING WITH A PRACTICALLY MARRIED-"

"Hey!" That was Victor, taking the chance to slap Garfield in the face. Garfield had long suspected that he'd wanted to do that for some time already, he was just waiting for the right time.

"For someone who's really inactive in asking a girl out, you sure like to jump at the worst conclusions!" Victor yelled, waving his hands around. "DUDE! She doesn't like him that way! She is SINGLE. S.I.N.G.L.E. You don't date or approach married women or women practically engaged, but will you give this poor, not attached at all lady that you are desperately in love with, a chance?"

And it was just then that Garfield's brain finally, FINALLY, understood just what it was he had to do. The thought sank into his head like a heated knife did on a cold slab of butter: slowly, and destroying the consistency of the original brain just a little.

"Oh my god," Garfield said. "Raven Roth is single."

"Yeap," grumbled Victor, smoothing down the fake wig that he had on for his costume.

"I can ask her out."

"Astute observation, Nancy Drew," Victor grumbled.

"I ...I HAVE TO GO TO HER!" And with that Garfield grabbed the door handle and pulled it all the way with a loud clang.

Heads turned to see the new arrival bursting into the scene, including Kori and Dick, who had been kissing on stage (how was Kori still holding on to him like that, damnit how strong was she did she hold Dick down like that in the bedroom FOCUS GARFIELD) until right then.

That was embarrassing, and Garfield, who looked down at his ensemble, reviewed exactly how he had just entered the room, with tear tracks still rather visible on his face, and realised he looked exactly like a jilted ex who was currently bursting in to voice his objections.

Wheeeeeeeeeelp.

"Uh… heh." Garfield laughed sheepishly. "I just...damn, this is the wrong energy to do anything-"

Melvin, Timothy and Taylor started laughing at him and the video may have been posted on Kori's second YouTube channel which included bloopers, and extra scenes that didn't make the original cut.

He would later become an internet meme for a few weeks.

The gif created from that video was very, very popular.

* * *

Raven, who had slipped out the backroom door after Kori's proposal, had no idea where exactly she was going. She just knew that she had to GO. Somewhere.

Hood over her head and cloak covering her body, she still felt cold under the warm cloak, and she wished she knew why she was feeling like this.

Considering the fact that she had just facilitated her friends' wedding proposal, she knew she had to be somewhat happy. And she was, a little. However, she was also a lot more... melancholic. It was something she wasn't comfortable feeling.

Well, this version of it, that is. She had felt emotions and darkness after all. This was just a rather new facet of it she didn't like. She had felt a version of it in the aftermath of the Malchior incident, but this…this was raw. This had the fact that obviously she had driven another person away, and the fact that she was trying her best to play hard and get along with someone she really wanted to like her back.

She knew they would be friends, but seeing Kori and Dick kiss like that? The bridal carry (groom carry in this case, Kori had really great upper body strength), the affection, the way Dick's eyes shone as Kori went down on one knee and gave him a ring, the way they pressed their foreheads together and nuzzled their noses together? That was love.

She wanted that.

She wanted to hang out with her partner the same way Kori and Dick did at breakfast, where Kori would be experimenting with new breakfast items and Dick would be scrolling through his phone, reading the news, only lifting his head to kiss Kori good morning and to try a little of the food she was creating. Sure, most of the time breakfast would have been interrupted by Dick accidentally choking on the food she created (" You put HOW MUCH mustard in the yogurt granola mix?"), but it was nice. It was homey. She wanted someone to share that with.

Well, not necessarily poison them with breakfast foods. But judging by her cooking results so far…

And then Garfield's face, his grin, his eyes that softened when she was at the receiving end of a compliment from him about her slowly improving cooking skills, popped up in her thoughts.

"Gragh. Damn that man." She said out loud, miserably.

He would have made a lovely …something. Companion, maybe. Boyfriend…perhaps. She would never have a chance to find out exactly how far they could go in a relationship because he clearly wasn't that interested in her.

By the gods, she was going to be a lonely, lonely woman who had no idea where she was going in life.

It then properly occurred to her that she had absolutely no idea where she was going right now. Or where she was currently.

She threw back the hood of her cloak to finally take in her surroundings and figure out where she was, and when she did, she groaned.

She was at the bodega. To be more specific, she was at the side of the bodega, where the fire escape led to the second floor where Garfield's room was, away from the block party happening outside.

Where MC Nugget was.

Fuck, she didn't even get that far on understanding just what it was about that damn cat and her constant kidnapping of it.

It didn't make sense. She loved Azar with all her heart. Her cat was the best of all the cats. She clearly was not looking for companionship anymore.

So why was she here?

It didn't make sense.

She looked at the fire escape ladder that led up to the second floor, speculative.

She was feeling rather alone at the moment, and it wouldn't hurt to get a bit of a cuddle from something who clearly liked her. Nobody knew where she was, and she knew nobody else. She couldn't go back to cuddle her own cat, Kori and Dick were mostly likely already in the apartment, having the most explosive sex that they have ever had and probably needed the privacy. And the party was in full swing.

So maybe…just maybe.

She looked around, just to see if anyone was looking. Then, when she was certain there was no one around, she braced herself for the jump, grabbed a hold of the ladder and pulled herself up, making sure her heels had a good foothold on the ladder rung before she raised her other foot to the next rung.

She had done this before, but it was different this time. She was a bit more sober than she ever had been, for one thing. She could feel the slight ache in her arms, and decided that she probably needed more work outs with Kori soon. But that didn't matter.

She pulled herself up onto the second floor landing, making sure the cloak didn't get tangled in the ladder rungs and making sure the feathers were still in place. Once done, she crouched down to have a look through the window, trying to see if she could locate the cat she was looking for.

She was in luck: MC Nugget, who had been stretched out against the floor, had locked eyes with her, and had lazily stretched himself before slinking towards the window, his nose inquisitively sniffling at the cold glass.

"Hey there," she whispered. "I don't suppose you wish to hang?"

MC Nugget yawned.

"I'm taking that as a yes." She smiled, and pulled the window upwards. Clearly, the reason why she had been easily kidnapping MC Nugget was due to the fact that Garfield had been leaving a small crack open in his window to let fresh air in for MC Nugget. He really had to be careful, he was way too trusting sometimes. The cat sniffled as the cold air hit his nose, and his eyes dilated a little in the light. Raven thought it was adorable, and scooped him into her arms.

"Thank you for seeing me," she whispered into the cat's fur. "I was not having a good time."

* * *

Garfield was not having a good time.

For one thing, after being laughed out of the bookstore, and by Victor, he still couldn't find Raven.

For another, he had been accosted by both Dick Grayson and Kori Anders, who had been excited and concerned for his welfare, for some strange reason. Dick had attempted to introduce his fiancée to him, but Kori placed one hand on his arm and he fell silent. That was surprisingly effective, and Garfield was almost tempted to start dating Dick if it meant getting him to shut up.

This would mean having to kiss him right?

He thought about the feel of Dick around his lips.

He immediately wanted to puke, because Dick Grayson and him in love? Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Smug bastard. If he wanted to date someone, he wanted to actually like them, first of all.

"Are you alright, Mr Logan?" Kori asked, concerned on her face. " You look as though you swallowed some of the mustard granola yogurt I usually make."

Garfield schooled his face into discerning nonchalance instead of disgust. There, better. " I'm okay, I swear. I just...well." Trying to sound as though he wasn't overly concerned, he asked, lightly. "Have you seen Raven, by the way? I just...well... I have something I need to ask-"

Kori and Dick shared a concerned look.

"We too have been searching-" Kori began.

"She slipped out the door, we think-" Dick continued, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

Garfield internally rolled his eyes, mostly at Dick. Of course, the self-absorbed prick would be too narcissistic to care about the people around him who might have had their feelings hurt. He had expected nothing less.

Kori was fine, though. She just proposed to the man, dumb shit though he may be, and she clearly liked him. He could excuse her for not noticing Raven's pain and where she had gone to.

He was probably playing favourites between the two of them, but hey, Kori was a lovely pure soul of absolute delight. She helped carry the groceries, for one thing. She clearly was the nice one between the two of them.

That was not the point right now though.

"She's not upstairs?" He asked tentatively, his eyes instinctively looking up.

Kori shook her head. "We thought we could stay behind to celebrate privately but she hasn't been replying to our messages."

"We checked her room," Dick said. "No go…"

Just then, the blonde employee from Raven's Bookstore, who Garfield was pretty sure was called Melvin, walked by, with 4 cans of beer in her arms. "Beers for us all!" she chorused, passing two cans to Kori and Dick. She turned to Garfield and her eyes brightened. "Hey! I know you, don't I?" she enthused. "You're that guy that keeps hanging out at the bookstore!"

Kori and Dick turned to look at Garfield, who was doing his best impression of a clueless white guy who had no idea why the attention had been turned on back to him. "Who me?"Garfield asked, even as his cheeks turned an interesting shade of pink. "I have no idea who you're talking about, this is my first time here-"

"Where are the rest of the alcoholic beverages, Melvin?" Kori asked, confused. " I was of the impression we had a dozen to celebrate my impending nuptials-"

The blonde shrugged. "I passed the rest to some of the kids out there, though the box was opened when I got there, two cans were in the trash."

Dick's eyes narrowed, and followed as Melvin led him to the back room to have a look at the trash. They both returned, with Dick cursing a little as he made his way to them.

" Fuck, Raven must have drank both cans just now, she has to be out there-"

Kori's eyes widened. "Could it be?" she asked, and Dick nodded. He looked as though he was about to move on out when she stilled him with a look and a strong hand grip to make him stay in place.

And Garfield was the subject of a long, scrutinising look from Kori, before her eyes met Dick's. Dick's eyes widened in return, and the both of them stared each other down in a very weird way, as though they were having a long, very silent argument. Dick must have lost, as his shoulders sloped, he sighed, and said, "Garfield."

Garfield forced himself not to bristle at whatever Dick had to say.

" If we tell you where Raven might be at the moment." Dick asked, softly, but carefully, as though every word of what he had to say had dire consequences if used flippantly, "Can I trust you to talk to her, without letting your emotions get in the way? And you can then ask her what you have to?"

* * *

Raven, who was still sitting in the fire escape, holding on to a very warm, purring kitty, was feeling pretty chilly.

Considering Jump City was located in the West Coast of the US, she had no idea why and how it got so cold in the evenings. She usually welcomed the weather changes, but right now, with nothing to shield her from the low temperatures beyond her thick cloak, thigh high socks and eternal shame, her teeth was chattering.

It would be November tomorrow, she reflected, supressing another shiver. She should get the longer jackets out soon, and since Kori was back, maybe she could get her to eat tacos with her for a day, to mourn her sad love life? She would normally never even think about doing such a thing, but well, she was melancholy…

Oh wait, Kori was about to marry the love of her life. She would probably need to find someone else to drown her misery in. Kori and Dick deserved to be happy without their sad third wheel roommate friend around.

It didn't make sense. Why was she still being a creeper and hiding out behind the bodega in the fire escape? She had been a teensy bit tipsy earlier but now, sitting outside in the cold fire escape, the chill had sobered her up a lot more now, and she had realised the full ramifications of where she was and what she was doing. There were people still around, going back or towards the block party, and she still had a frigging cat in her arms. Not to mention the open window which she got said cat from, and oh damnit, she looked super super suspicious didn't she?

She should…put MC Nugget back into his room, shut the window, and leave. Pretend she had not been potentially cat-napping innocent cats, or anywhere near Garfield Logan's room. She was not a stalker, for fuck's sake. She was an adult woman with adult sensibilities and adult beliefs in not being seen as a creepy person-

There was a short bark of a laugh below her, a familiar one.

Oh god…She knew who it was, but she had to...

She looked down the fire escape to the ground floor and saw what she had dreaded.

Garfield Logan was looking up at her, still wearing his purple jacket, his dirty blonde hair ruffled. " Hey there, Rae." He said, a small grin on his face. He then paused, looking hesitant in saying anything, and then he seemed to resolve himself," Hey," he smirked, "How's it hanging?"

Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck-

* * *

Garfield Logan knew for a fact that Dick Grayson, despite his douchey ways, was a smart motherfucker. But hey, so he was right about ONE thing. One. That didn't count.

Right now what mattered was the fact that Raven was on his fire escape. She had MC Nugget in her hands, and she looked, for lack of a better word, absolutely miserable.

And Garfield, well…he knew a few facts to be true, at the very very moment.

1) Raven Roth looked fucking amazing in purple, bathed in the moonlight.

2) Raven Roth was the reason why he had been running around in circles emotions-wise, thanks to her unintentional cat-napping tendencies and her place in his head as someone he genuinely wanted to get to know better.

3) He had absolutely no idea how he could get up the fire escape. Did he have to jump to ...grab at something?

He must have stayed there for far too long because at some point Raven had rolled her eyes and said, "You could just come in from your house you know," she said, the sardonic tone creeping back into her voice. Garfield laughed nervously, cause WELL DUH.

A race to the bodega, a race up the stairs and a barrelling into his room later, Garfield was now in his room, staring at the open window, where Raven Roth and his baby cat son were waiting.

Well, his baby son was waiting, and he meowed a little upon seeing him. Raven, on the other hand, looked stoic. It was obvious Raven's guard was all the way up.

He crawled through the window, and his face met with cool, crisp air and Raven, holding his cat, who was now twisting his body to try and get to Garfield.

He landed on his feet, his boots meeting metal grille, and he gave himself a good stretch and a deep breath.

"Come here often?" Garfield asked, and as soon as he said it he knew it was the wrong thing to say. Raven tensed, and her guard, which he thought was up, had somehow raised itself higher. "Yeah, my bad, I'm sorry to say that-"

"Who told you?" Raven growled.

"Dick Grayson, actually," he said. "I congratulated him and his new fiancée on their impending nuptials, it was the least I could do."

Technically he congratulated Kori, not the both of them, but semantics.

Raven's brow rose, in reluctance and grudging respect. " Good use on the word impending and nuptials," she said. "Never thought you had it in you."

"I had a good teacher." He winked.

There was silence, broken by Raven's sigh. She raised her arms to pass the cat to him. Garfield took the chance to cuddle the shit out of his baby, all while surreptitiously checking for any missing limbs. Hey, Garfield was sure Raven wasn't a psychopathic cat mutilator, but you couldn't be too sure about stuff like that.

"Look, Garfield." Raven said, standing up. "I completely did not mean to scare you, or creep you out. I understand if my actions were too much, I have been told I can be a little intense for others, and kidnapping your cat probably didn't help-"

"Hey," he said, gently, shifting to move his cat to his other arm. "I get it. So you like a little... intensity. I've been told I'm a little too much myself, or did you forget that time I had to surrender $60 to the pun jar?"

She still looked hesitant. "But your cat- I kidnapped him by opening your window-"

Garfield wrinkled his nose. "Yeah that was not my favourite thing to hear, don't do that again. I know we're friends but my brain can't take the idea of someone coming into my house and stealing my cat into the night." He gestured to the cat,"Did you know I made him take a DNA test? Turns out, he's 100% pure baby."

Raven rolled her eyes but Garfield could tell she was amused.

"So yeah, don't steal my cat again and don't break into my house."he said, grinning. "We'll survive that."

Raven frowned a little and Garfield could see how her guard meter was lowering, though not by much. "You're awfully nice for someone who you just found out was stalking where you lived to regularly catnap your cat," she said, almost accusatorily.

"I'll be honest." Garfield admitted. "I've done worse." He took a deep breath. "When I was in college, I came back drunk once to what I thought was my dorm but turned out to be someone else's." It wasn't a pretty picture, especially what happened next. "I caught my ex cheating on me in the dorm."

Raven's eyes dropped to her shoes. "I'm sorry to hear that," she said, voice measured and laced with sympathy. "But exactly how was that worse than what I did?"

"I may have been so shocked and sickened that I puked all over the floor."

"Oh."

"Then I lost consciousness and then collapsed between her and the other guy. Didn't wake up till morning."

" That's…"

"The guy was my RA."

"Woah."

"I may have been trying to sober myself up before by eating gas-station egg salad sandwiches before coming back to what I thought was my room," he laughed ruefully.

"I can't tell if that story is true now," Raven asked, and the look on her face, confused, conflicted, almost made Garfield laugh.

"The point is, I know about regrets," Garfield said, and he sat down next to her on the stairs. "And I've had a few, including a few recent ones that I hope you'll forgive me for."

Raven raised both eyebrows at him, and Garfield became more nervous than he ever had in weeks.

* * *

If Raven's eyebrows got any higher, she knew they would probably freeze that way or disappear forever.

Kori told her it could happen. She was sure it was a joke but considering Kori had come from a small country that was near the equator and had never seen any form of cold weather until her move to America and Jump City, Raven was pretty sure that the thought of it was stuck in her head, and now it wss stuck in hers too.

"You…," she began, then cleared her throat. She had absolutely no idea how to react to that piece of news. She settled for a cool, inscrutable look, with her eyebrows at the proper position of normal, non-judgemental gaze. "Alright,"she said. "Regrets?"

Garfield shifted from foot to foot. "Yeah erm."

What was with the guilt? He had found out that she had kidnapped his cat three times already and didn't really bat his eye but here he was looking as though he had eaten a plate full of veal and enjoyed it. She narrowed her eyes. "Start talking," she barked, in her anxiety to just get through whatever it was he did.

It was probably just him being upset about leading her on or something..

"I may have been a shit to your friend Dick," he admitted, rubbing the back of his head in abject embarrassment.

Huh. Raven was surprised. That was not what she had been expecting. "Oh," she replied, lamely. Then she asked. "May I ask why?"

Dick had mentioned it once, she was sure of it. But she didn't believe it when he said it, and now her hrad felt a little giddy and she was exhausted from the emotional whiplash of her feelings. Could she pull herself together to play therapist for a bit-

Garfield was chuckling, a little ruefully, for some reason. "See erm, it's embarrassing...I thought he and you were dating and that he was a dick shit who didn't deserve you though it's also possible my feelings on the matter were a bit biased really and you're a really nice person and really pretty sometimes though you can be scary and-"

Hold the hell up.

"What," was Raven's eloquent reply.

Garfield was stammering something now. Raven didn't know what exactly because her vision had become rather fixated on his eyes. She couldn't tell their colour but she liked the shape of them. She was holding on to that because what was happening could not be real.

"- so that's why I thought you and he were gonna get married and i would have to grit my teeth and just buy you two a pony or a microwave or a microwave pony or something and- Raven? Are you listening?"

No, Raven, for once in her life. Was not listening.

Garfield said she was pretty.

Did Garfield…

Impossible.

Did Garfield just admitted he was jealous of Dick?

Cause Raven was pretty?

What did that mean-

Fuck.

That couldn't mean what she thought it meant, could it?

"You think I'm pretty?" She said, slowly. Just to test the words out. Pretty. Her. Huh.

Clearly Garfield didn't like her expression cause he had paled somewhat and started stammering," Well not pretty, erm that is,you are but you're also smart, and not like in a patronising way, you're really cool and I like, really really like you and erm-"

He stammered out some other stuff but Raven was not listening again.

Twice in her life. This was a day for trying new things it seemed.

"You like me," she said, and fuck, if this was a joke she was going to stab so many things.

"...yes." he said.

Silence saw the opportunity to slide itself into the riveting conversation.

She was pretty sure her lips were a little agape. She was sure she didn't care.

"And you're not... joking." She said slowly.

Garfield looked like he was in abject misery, but he nodded.

Raven took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She counted to 5 mentally and then reopened them. Garfield was, luckily, still there. A bit concerned, and growing miserable, but still there.

"Let's get dinner," she said, calmly.

That was not what Garfield had expected, apparently. The man looked as though Raven had once again kidnapped his cat, renamed it DJ Fuzzle Muffins, and dressed him up as a clown. "Wha?"

She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling, and she felt a little shy about the entire thing. He was such a sweetheart, but hey, that's why she liked him a lot, right? "If you were being sincere about you liking me, then I suggest we both get our heads out of our asses and go out," she said, reaching a hand to grasp his gloved one. Goddamn, it was warm, the entire situation had reminded her that she was underdressed in this weather, she was clearly shivering from the cold. Or the slight exhilaration she was feeling from knowing something precious, small and delicate finally taking shape in her stomach and her head. This must be what the songs meant about love.

She might be in love with him.

And he clearly liked her enough...or, judging by his own scared, but slowly dawning understanding in his eyes, and the wider, exhilarating grin on his face… nope, she couldn't about it like that, could she?

" Just to be clear," she said, deciding that she would have to make sure he got the message. "I like you too. The same way too."

"Are you sure?" He asked, a little lost, but smiling wider and wider.

She nodded, shyly.

He grasped her hand tightly in hers, and for once, was silent.

She let him do so. She was cold, and after the emotional whiplash of the day, she could be alright with silence. They were on the same page for once. Dinner could wait, just for a few moments.


End file.
